Whereas the home owner grants primary objective is to reduce the tax burden on the school portion of the tax notice; And whereas with the material increase in property values those properties that increase above the average will bear a higher burden of taxes; And whereas due to the increase in property assessment the school tax charge becomes higher than the Home Owner Grant: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request that the Ministry of Finance increase the additional home owner grant to reflect the actual school tax charged on the property where the school tax is higher than the home owner grant.
Ministry of Finance The Home Owner Grant was designed to provide modest tax relief to homeowners who need it most. Grant amounts are reduced or eliminated for properties worth more than the threshold. This results in owners of higher-valued homes being asked to contribute more. The Province increased the 2022 threshold to 1,975,000 to be consistent with the policy of capturing 92 percent of homes in BC. Without the increase, approximately 100,000 more home owners would have lost part of or all of their Home Owner Grant. The additional Home Owner Grant provides 275 on top of the regular grant to seniors, those living with a disability, and veterans. The Home Owner Grant amounts are set throughout the province so that all qualifying homeowners can easily apply prior to making their property tax payments. Changing these amounts to reflect the actual school tax charged on a specific property would be administratively challenging to implement and would require changes to the provincial system and to every municipalitys tax notice. The Province is not considering increasing the additional Home Owner Grant to reflect the actual school tax charged on properties. However, the Province understands that above-average home value increases do not always represent an increased capacity to pay tax, which is why government offers property tax relief through various programs. Under the low-income grant supplement program, eligible low-income seniors, veterans and persons with disabilities can receive a supplement that replaces any Home Owner grant that is lost due to the high value of the home. In addition, the property tax deferment program helps seniors and families with dependent children stay in their homes by providing a low interest loan to help pay the annual property taxes on their principal residences.