Kristopher Snarby. (Submitted)

By Rick Conrad

A Liverpool realtor says it’s time to reassess property assessments in Nova Scotia.

Kristopher Snarby says the recent assessment numbers from the Property Valuation Services Corporation are all over the place. And the system needs to change.

“My concern is that there’s just no consistency to any of it,” he said Friday.

“People should be able to understand why their property went up or down. And it’s just completely random.” 

Nova Scotians began receiving their assessment notices this week. 

The independent, non-profit corporation says 2024 assessments are based on sales and financial data and reflect a market value as of Jan. 1, 2023, and the physical state of properties as of Dec. 1, 2023, including new construction, renovations, demolitions, and impacts from natural disasters.

Nova Scotia’s overall assessments rose by just under 18 per cent. 

Residential property assessments in Queens County rose by 25 per cent. The total residential assessment value for Queens County is $1.978 billion, an increase of just under $400 million. 

Snarby looked at 10 adjacent homes in Liverpool. He said the increase in assessed value ranged from five per cent to 90 per cent. And the overall average assessment increase for those 10 properties was 44 per cent, he said.

He said house sales in Liverpool rose 20 per cent in 2021/22, but dropped by seven per cent in 2022/23. In all of Queens County, he says they rose by 17 per cent in 2021/22 and dropped by three per cent in 2022/23.

“If they’re saying that the value of a home is based on market sales data, you would think they should rise about the same percentage if nothing has changed with those homes,” he said. 

He said even if the PVSC used sales data from 2021/22 which showed about a 20 per cent rise in sales in Liverpool, assessments shouldn’t be going up more than 20 per cent.

“If you have houses that have not been touched, they should all go up by the same amount or down by the same amount. 

“It’s completely bonkers the way this is done. There’s nothing that connects it to any hard, real numbers.”

No one from the Property Valuation Services Corporation was available for an interview. But in an emailed statement, a spokeswoman said PVSC uses a standard mass appraisal system, which values a group of properties as of a given date. 

She said if homeowners have concerns, they can speak to a PVSC assessor at 1-800-380-7775 or by email at inquiry@pvsc.ca. Information is also on their website at pvsc.ca. 

Homeowners can also file an appeal, but Snarby says that’s a double-edged sword because it might result in a higher assessment.

Snarby said the provincial government needs to take a look at the system.

“A lot of people are hurting right now and when the value of your house is suddenly tripled in a year or more, it’s another thing in life that’s super costly and expensive for people to try to cover these bills.”

The deadline for appeals is Feb. 8. Nova Scotians filed more than 13,000 appeals in 2023.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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The proposed site for the new library at Queens Place lies at the end of the driveway beside the sledding hill. Photo Ed Halverson

Members of the Astor theatre want permission to pursue grants for a new air conditioning system and councillors are concerned about ballooning costs for the new library at Queens place.

The late additions made for an exciting agenda at Tuesday’s Region of Queens council meeting.

The meeting got underway with presentations from the property valuation services corporation or PVSC. The organization explained how they assess properties before providing that information to municipalities to use when collecting property tax.

The next presentation was an update from the recreation and healthy communities department.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, members of the Astor Theatre made their case for why they want permission to install air conditioning. They say climate change has led to uncomfortably high temperatures during the summer months making the space an unsafe work environment. Because the Astor Theatre is a tenant in the Town Hall Arts and Cultural Centre, they need permission from the municipality to make any changes.

During the recommendation portion of the agenda councillors approved the placement, design, and size of the new outdoor pool which is proposed to be built alongside Queens Place. Council also took the extraordinary step of allowing the pool committee to research and write grants on behalf of the municipality. Grants will still need to be reviewed, approved and submitted by municipal staff.

A study on the feasibility of servicing two new proposed subdivisions in Mount Pleasant will go ahead. Councillors approved spending up to $21,000 for CBCL engineering to undertake a six-week study to determine if there is the capacity to handle water and wastewater flow and demand to the proposed developments. The results of that study are expected to come back to council sometime in April.

Next, councillors debated and ultimately approved the Astor Theatre’s request to apply for grants to install air conditioning. We’ll have more on this story in the coming days.

Eight items were on the agenda for the discussion portion of the meeting.

Council received updates on their implementation report and a financial review for the third quarter.

The province of Nova Scotia is conducting an economic study on the ferry service from Maine to Nova Scotia and approached municipalities in southern Nova Scotia for feedback on the evaluation criteria.

Council was informed environmental documents pertaining to the Mersey River wind farm project can be viewed at the regional administration office and the Thomas Raddall library. The project includes plans to install 35 wind turbines on the site.

Council then discussed property tax exemptions and set a date of March 3rd to begin discussing their 2023-24 budget.

The South Queens Chamber of Commerce asked the Region to assume responsibility for the hanging flower baskets on display on posts in Liverpool. Council discussed taking on the project but determined in fairness, it should be expanded to include Caledonia as well. Staff will investigate the specifics of the request and bring a report back to council.

Finally, council discussed the construction of the new library at Queens Place.

Around the table councillors say they’ve been hearing concerns from residents that the Region has not looked for other sources of funding for the project. Some also feel the location at Queens Place was misrepresented as the best option.

Councillors who had opposed siting the new library at Queens Place dropped their opposition when they believed it would be the most cost-effective option. During the discussion it was revealed the construction of the road and other infrastructure leading to the library could add over $900,000 to the cost.

Council will be looking for staff to provide more information and a clearer accounting of all costs when the library is brought back for discussion at the next meeting.

That meeting will take place Tuesday February 28th at 6:00 PM in council chambers.

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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