Let's Talk Tax

Happy New Year. With the Christmas season now over, what better time to talk about the taxes we pay for services from our local government. I wanted to look at residential property tax rates because some people in Metro Vancouver might think that their property tax is out of line with other larger centres in BC. Of course the tax rate is only half the story and tomorrow I'll look at the average property tax burden in these municipalities. You'll notice that I singled out the hospital tax rate because in Metro Vancouver the province picks up the tab as a result of TransLink. The TransLink tax rate is 0.38020. The median hospital tax rate in urban centres out of Metro Vancouver is 0.29. So really, the TransLink tax rate is 0.09 or for the average house in the South of Fraser $43.60 a year. That's less than what you pay for your public library a year. Hopefully this will bring some more understanding to current funding stand-off over TransLink with the mayors and the province.

2010 Tax Rate (Selected Municipalities)

Metro Vancouver
City Langley
Total: 6.4596
Hospital: 0

White Rock
Total: 6.2268
Hospital: 0

Delta
Total: 6.0958
Hospital: 0

Township of Langley
Total: 5.7787
Hospital: 0

Surrey
Total: 4.9073
Hospital: 0

Vancouver
Total: 4.2186
Hospital: 0

Burnaby
Total: 4.9066
Hospital: 0

Outside Metro Vancouver
Prince George
Total: 12.2007
Hospital: 0.3907

Kamloops
Total: 7.9085
Hospital: 0.2141

Abbotsford
Total: 7.5988
Hospital: 0.2565

Vernon
Total: 7.2637
Hospital: 0.2141

Victoria
Total: 6.3060
Hospital: 0.2945

Kelowna
Total: 6.1853
Hospital: 0.3118

Saanich
Total: 5.8698
Hospital: 0.2940