'They've seen so much go wrong:' Federation calls for cap on property-tax bills

New Brunswickers have lost confidence in the property assessment system, especially after the government's most recent mistakes, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation said Monday as it called for tax bills tied to the inflation rate.

"They've seen so much go wrong with these assessments that no longer people believe in the systemanymore, and it demands real change," Kevin Lacey, the Atlantic director of the federation, said in an interview with Information Morning Fredericton.

Laceywas referring to problems that continueto arise with 2017 property assessments, including about 2,400 bills thatwere miscalculated, as well astax-bill increases that have stunned property owners.

CBC has reported some homeowners seeing their assessments go up by 30 per cent and some landlordswondering how they'll handle increases of more than 50 per cent.

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"Government can't sweep these problems under the rug," Lacey said. "They have to address them."

Property assessment cap

His group has recommend the province follow Nova Scotia's lead andbring ina property assessment cap for taxation purposes.

This would mean tax bills would not go up by more than the inflation rate. An assessment would not change until a house was sold, and the sale price became the new assessed value.

"Every year when the assessments come out, depending on what the inflation rate is your tax bill will only go up by the rate of inflation," Laceysaid.

He said he's hopeful government is open to the idea.

"What you're getting is an increase in the cost of inflation, which is the same cost that we all face," he said. "I don't think governments are giving anything up in this."

These assessments go up, the tax bill goes up, their services don't get any better and yet government is raking in all the revenue.-Kevin Lacey

He said the property assessment capwould allow the system to be more predictable, especially when people are purchasing homes.

Peoplecanlook at a home and make decisions based on the mortgagerate and whether they can afford thetax rate.

He said the cap wouldalsoincrease accountability. If lawmakers decide they want taxes to increase, they'd have to raise the property tax rate, he said.

"That would allow average taxpayers or organizations like mine to weigh in and have a political debate about those tax increases.

"There's an issue here with regards to accountability. Taxpayers should get the tax rate they deserve."

Assessment mistakes

The Liberal government has said that mistakes this year were no more numerous that previous years, but itis providing more time for appeals for property owners whose assessments are being recalculated.

Service New Brunswick said the 2,400 property owners it identified as having receivedincorrect bills will get new bills.

But Lacey also believes government needs to tackle the issue of miscalculations bycreatingan agency, separate from government, to dothe assessments.

A problemwith the current system, he said, is it has no way ofmeasuringpeople's ability to pay or whether they can afford increases.

A lot of NewBrunswickersare facing big assessment increases andthey want to know why, what the money is for and whether the bills arefair.

"It's time to take those out of government and create an arm's-length agency that would do assessments for the province," he said.

Lacey said the assessment agencywould be run by an independent body consisting ofaverage New Brunswickers who would hold the agency accountable. This would also empower New Brunswickers to take over the assessment process themselves, he said.

Lacey used the example of a senior couple, livingon a fixed income in what has been their Frederictonhome for 25 to 35 years. Asas a result of changes in the real estate market, their assessments go up in a big way, without any changes to their income or personal finances.

"That's the type of people that really get hit when these assessments go up and these tax bills go along with it," Lacey said. "They can't afford it."

He said the samegoes for working families who are living paycheque to paycheque.

"These assessments go up, the tax bill goes up, their services don't get any better, and yet government is raking in all the revenue."