Langley City's Hidden Heroes Video Series

There are many workers at Langley City whose jobs ensure that we have a good quality of life in our community. I interviewed a few workers this summer to explore their roles in our community.

The first video is with James, who is a Horticulture Chargehand. He keeps our parks and plazas looking their best.

The second video is with Sonia. She takes on many important tasks in our community, including testing the quality of our drinking water. I finally learned what those mysterious green cylinders throughout our community are used for.

This video series is ongoing, and I look forward to sharing more about Langley City's Hidden Heroes.

2025 Langely City Proposed Property Tax Exemptions

In BC, a house of worship building such as a church, gurudwara, synagogue, or mosque is automatically exempt from paying property tax. However, the parking or landscaping areas of a house of worship property are not automatically exempt. Local governments in BC are allowed to provide a whole or partial property tax exemption for land used by charitable, philanthropic, and non-profit organizations.

Other property owners must make up the difference for each permissive tax exemption a local government grants.

The following math is simplified and based on parcel tax (an available tax type that Langley City doesn't use but proves the point.)

For example, if the City has a $50m budget and 8,000 parcels of property, the City would need to raise $6,250 from each property owner. If City Council granted 20 properties a permissive tax exemption, the City would need to raise $6,265.66 from the remaining property owners.

For the 2024 property tax year, the City provided $274,632 in tax exemptions, about 0.65% of each property owner's property tax bill.

All that to say, permissive property tax exemptions are not something that we take lightly.

Langley City Council grants permissive tax exemptions for all property of a house of worship. Council has historically granted permissive tax exemptions to some other organizations. The current Langley City Council has so far voted to continue with the annual renewal of these "legacy" permissive tax exemptions but has signalled no interest in expanding permissive tax exemptions.

In 2021, Langley City Council capped permissive tax exemptions to 1.4% of total property tax revenue and $75,000 per exempted property.

On Monday, October 7th, Council gave first, second and third reading of the 2025 permissive tax exemption bylaw, which will provide an exemption for the following organizations' properties:

Anglican Parish of St Andrew's - 20955 Old Yale Rd
Bridge Community Church - 5521 Brydon Cres
Church of the Nazarene Canada Pacific District - 19991 49 Ave
New Apostolic Church Canada - 19999 53 Ave
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver - 20676 Fraser Hwy
Town & Field Church - 20719 48 Ave
Vancouver Global Mission Church - 5673 200 St
Vineyard Christian Fellowship - 5708 Glover Rd
Community Police Office* - 100-20408 Douglas Cr
Convention Centre* - 20393 Fraser Hwy
Council of the Salvation Army - 5787 Langley Bypass
Langley Community Music School - 4899 207 St
Langley Community Services Society - 5339 207 St
Langley Lawn Bowling - 20471 54 Ave
Langley Seniors Resource Society - 20605 51B Ave
Langley Stepping Stones - 20101 Michaud Cr
Encompass Support Services Society - 20616 Eastleigh Cr
Inclusion Langley Society - 20689 Fraser Hwy
Inclusion Langley Society - 210-20239 Michaud Cr
Inclusion Langley Society - 208-20239 Michaud Cr
Inclusion Langley Society - 210-5650 201A St
Inclusion Langley Society - 312-5650 201A St
Inclusion Langley Society - 19977 45A Ave
Inclusion Langley Society - 4570 209A St
Inclusion Langley Society - 4830 196 St
Langley Care Society - 5451 204 St
Langley Food Bank - 20308 Logan Ave
Langley Hospice Society - 20660 48 Ave
Langley Memorial Hospital Auxiliary - 20560 Fraser Hwy

For more information, please read the Council report.

*City used or owned

Losing Your Home Due To Unpaid Property Tax Is Rare

If you do not pay your property tax within two years in BC, a municipality must sell your property to collect owed taxes. This tax sale is not optional. Going to a tax sale is very rare, and in Langley City, it normally results from the City being unable to contact a property owner over multiple years.

Under BC law, a tax sale is an auction that must occur at 10:00 am on the last Monday in September in a municipality's council chamber. A municipality sells the property to the highest bidder. Even after the tax sale, the original property owner has a year to pay their taxes and get their property back. A year after the property sale, if the original property owner still doesn't pay taxes, the property is transferred to the successful bidder. The City receives the amount owed in taxes, fees and interest, with the remainder going to the original property owner.

The short of it is that you have up to three years from when your taxes are due before you could lose your property. Again, it is extremely rare for someone to lose their property due to a tax sale in Langley City. City staff work hard to connect with someone before they lose their property.

The BC Ombudsperson in 2021 issued a report on a tax sale in Penticton called "A BID FOR FAIRNESS: How $10,000 in Property Tax Debt Led to a Vulnerable Person Losing Their Home." As the title of this report suggests, Ms. Wilson, a senior, lost her home due to a tax sale, and the Ombudsperson found it was due to unclear and inadequate communication by a municipality.

To prevent a Ms. Wilson situation from happening in our community, Langley City Council passed a motion last Monday to authorize the City's "Director of Corporate Services or his or her designate be appointed to bid on behalf of the municipality for any City of Langley Tax Sales." If a property ever went to a tax sale in our community, the City would bid for it to recover any property taxes owed and work to transfer it back to the original owner without evicting the original owner if it is a residential property.

Again, while someone losing their property due to a tax sale is extremely rare, this authorization from Council adds another layer of protection.

October 17th, 10:17 am: The Great BC ShakeOut

When I was in elementary school, I remember we had "earthquake dots." These dots were the direction we were supposed to orient ourselves during "drop, cover, and hold on" drills. These drills happened when there was peak knowledge that BC was due for "the big one." I remember a BCTV special from the 1990s on what life would be like during and after "the big one" hits. While these drills might have gone out of fashion, and we don't talk about "the big one" as much, earthquakes are very much a part of life in BC, and we are still due for "the big one."

On October 17th at 10:17 am, thousands of British Columbians, including Langley City staff, will participate in the Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills.

You can also join in by visiting the ShakeOut website. You can sign up and download resources to help you with your own drill, whether at home or your workplace.

It is also an excellent time to remind people to check the state of their emergency kit and grab-and-go bag. If you don't have an emergency kit and grab-and-go bag, please check out PreparedBC for more information on how to build your own.

When "the big one" hits, will you and your family be ready?