Nova Scotia property assessment appeals and tax updates

Nova Scotia’s update from a 2021 to 2022 valuation date has resulted in some of the largest assessment increases in recent memory. While the final impact on your tax bill won’t be known until later this year, tax policies proposed by staff at HRM are expected to significantly increase taxes in some areas. The window of opportunity to challenge the assessed value closes on February 9, 2023.

Assessed values in Nova Scotia have been updated to reflect the following:

• Valuation date of January 1, 2022

• Characteristics and physical state of the property as of December 1st, 2022

Assessed property value increases

Although the reassessment update is only for a 12-month period (assessments are updated annually), the overall assessment increase is more than 18% across the province and 21% in Halifax.

Single-family residential property has led this increase, but assessments of multi-family and industrial assets are also up substantially, leading to the most significant valuation increases in most Nova Scotia municipalities in recent history.

The Property Valuation Services Corporation (PVSC) has released some broad statistics reproduced below:

Data for additional municipalities is provided on the PVSC Website.

For commercial real estate (CRE) properties in the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), based on a sample of properties reviewed by Altus, the reassessment has resulted in the following changes as compared to 2021 assessments:

• Multi-Residential: +15%-25%

• Industrial: +15%-25%

• Office: No change

• Hospitality: No change

Increases in assessed value do not always result in tax increases. If the municipal budget requirements do not change, only those properties that increase by more than the average will see their taxes go up, while properties that increase by less than average will see tax reductions.

2023/2024 HRM tax budget and reforms

In November of 2022, City staff indicated that an 8% increase in the average tax bill would be necessary to meet municipal budget requirements. While the budget process is ongoing, we are expecting the result will be an overall tax revenue increase of more than 4%.

In addition, the city will be introducing a new tax policy affecting Commercial Real Estate (CRE) properties. The city has created 5 tax zones with 3 tiers of tax rate based on assessed value. all Commercial properties (CRE) within the circumferential highway.

• Business parks such as Dartmouth Crossing, Bedford Commons and Bayers Lake will be taxed at rates 13 to 20% above the average.

• The region’s industrial parks (Burnside, Atlantic Acres, City of Lakes, etc.) will be hit to a lesser extent, with tax rates 2.5% above the average for higher valued properties.

• All other commercial owners within the circumferential highway should see a nominal decrease in their overall taxes - assuming their assessed value has not changed.

The city had introduced “assessment averaging” for commercial property owners, which was anticipated to phase in the impact of increased assessments. These measures were slated to be implemented by September 2023 however the provincial government has not approved the program and it is therefore suspended indefinitely.

HRM Council Budget Committee will be holding an open meeting on the future budget and implementation of these tax policies on January 25th 2023. Documentation on the proposed changes mentioned above and instructions on how to attend can be found here.

The impact of these assessment changes and tax policy measures won’t be known until you receive your final tax bill. To only way to impact the amount of property tax you pay is to alter the assessed value. We recommend that every commercial and multifamily ratepayer ensure that their assessment is as fair as possible within the confines of the Assessment Act.

Assessment appeals must be received by the Property Valuation Services Corporation by midnight on February 9, 2023.