To the editor:
In response to the letter to the editor in the Sept. 28 simplymastery, headlined Not happy with revised tax notices, the Cariboo Regional District (CRD) would like to clarify the inaccuracies contained within its content.
The CRD presents its budget yearly in January and February at the town-hall meetings in all 12 electoral areas and four member municipalities of the regional district.
Once the board finalizes its budget in March of each year, the requisition amounts required to provide the various services are sent to the Surveyor of Taxes.
In May 2011, the CRD was informed by the Surveyor of Taxes office in Victoria that an error had been made by BC Assessment (BCA) when combining two separate building inspection service areas into one. As a result, properties in Electoral Areas D, G, H, and L were inadvertently dropped from the list of taxable properties for this tax item when the service areas were combined, leaving the tax burden to be borne by the remaining listed taxpayers in the Building Inspection Service Area.
Most of the revised tax notices have now been issued; approximately 134 to complete the process will be issued by the end of October.
This was an unfortunate error and BCA apologizes for the inconvenience and unexpected cost imposed on affected property owners.
The CRD had issued a news release informing the media and the general public about this situation on June 24 and again on Sept. 13, at which time, residents affected by the Surveyor of Taxes coding error were notified they would be receiving revised tax notices.
The CRD has developed a strong public consultation process and we encourage residents to attend local meetings to receive accurate information about what services affect their area along with the proposed requisitions. These meetings are an excellent opportunity for residents to provide feedback about the proposed budgets, five-year financial plans and to discuss any other local issues or concerns with elected officials and staff.
Scott Reid
Chief financial officer
Darin Johnson
Deputy assessor, BC Assessment
