Anyone who wants to appeal their property assessments should do so before Jan. 31, the deadline set by BC Assessment. Assessments in Maple Ridge were down on average about one per cent. For more information, go to www.bcassessment.bc.ca

Maple Ridge council received two presentations from BC Assessment staff this week. The first presentation from BC Assessment staff was a high-level look at property assessments in Maple Ridge. The second presentation from District of Maple Ridge staff was a more in-depth look at the property assessments. Mayor and council also received a staff report reviewing the preliminary assessment information provided by BC Assessment.

In Maple Ridge, overall, there was an average decrease of about one per cent in residential property assessments; this being an “average” means that some property assessments decreased more than per cent while some properties experienced value increases.

The District tracks assessed value changes for different geographic areas of the District. For 2013, the data shows that there is some variation from neighbourhood to neighbourhood within Maple Ridge.

In the discussion around these variations, Mayor and council noted that it was market forces that drive the growth in assessments.

Staff emphasized that the information received by council was preliminary and subject to change based on appeals of assessments by property owners, and that this report provides council with a snapshot of what the final assessment roll will look like in the spring.

It was noted that assessments were based on property sales occurring between July 2011 and July 2012, and that appeals would be based on transactions in that period.