Residential property tax rates are likely to see a 2.5 per cent increase this year.
Based on figures presented to city council's finance and audit committee Monday afternoon, homeowners should see a bump equal to the overall tax levy increase approved last December.
Of the three options for property tax rates the committee forwarded to an April 7 committee of the whole meeting, all three include a 2.5 per cent residential increase, with variations on how the levy will be made up by the rest of the property classes.
In 2014, the representative house value increased to $223,606 from $218,897. Last year, representative house paid $1,737 in property tax. If the 2.5 per cent increase is approved, that tax bill would rise to $1,780, with the rate of $7.96 per $1,000 of assessed value.
Residential properties pay for 54 per cent of the city's $86.7 million tax levy but account for 75 per cent of the city's total assessment value. That indicates that the taxpayers is getting good value for their money, said Coun. Cameron Stolz.
Still up in the air is how to divvy up the remainder of the property classes - business, major industrial, light industrial and farm. The utility property class rate is regulated to be set at the greater of $40 per $1,000 of assessed value or 2.5 times the business rate.
Staff have presented options where the other property class rates are raised equally, where major industry rate is kept the same as 2013 and the others are raised equally, or where the major industry rate is reduced and the others raised equally.
In years past, the city had a policy to lower the major industrial rate to meet the provincial average within 10 years.
Last fall, the policy was changed to indicate the provincial average could be taken into consideration, but it didn't have to be a defining factor.
Major industry paid $46 per $1,000 of assessed value in 2013. The figure for 2013 wasn't available, but Soltis' report said the average 2012 B.C. major industrial rate was $36.87 per $1,000 of assessed value.
Corporate services director Kathleen Soltis said when looking at 104 B.C. municipalities, Prince George sits in the middle of the pack for its major industry rate (as a multiple of the residential rate) and below average overall.
Staff-prepared charts also suggest Prince George rates at below average for other northern municipalities and at par with other pulp mill communities.
"I don't see any good reason, in light of this data, to reduce [the major industry rate]," said Coun. Dave Wilbur.
