‘I’ll be leaving Cape Breton’: CBRM residents frustrated by high property assessment rates

Some Cape Breton homeowners say they are fed up with property tax assessments.

Bryan Hollohan and his wife moved into a new home in Coxheath, N.S., less than a year ago.

The couple recently received the latest property tax assessment for the land they built on.

“Disgusted. Outrageous, really,” said Hollohan on Wednesday.

Hollohan said his assessment came in at $659,000, with a cap value of $498,000.

He and his wife have already appealed it.

“It cost me about $230,000 to build it and the assessment came back at three times the amount,” he said.

A motion put forth about the issue by District 12 councillor Kim Sheppard was carried unanimously at a Cape Breton Regional Municipality council meeting Tuesday evening.

“What I put across to council was that we contact the provincial government and ask that they look into the process of assessments done in Nova Scotia,” Sheppard told CTV Atlantic on Wednesday.

She said dramatic spikes in property value assessments – and high tax rates compared to some other parts of the province – have been a problem for years.

“One woman contacted me and she said hers went up almost 65 per cent,” said Sheppard. “That’s how much her assessment went up. She said she did not do anything to her home, and she’s flabbergasted about how high it went and she says she doesn’t even know if she can pay that. Is she going to be able to stay in her home?”

CTV News reached out to Property Valuation Services Corporation. It said in an email, since the matter is being raised by CBRM with the province, which handles the legislation, and PVSC conducts assessments in accordance with the legislation and industry standards, it has nothing further to add.

If his appeal doesn’t go to his satisfaction, Hollohan said he has already decided what his next step will be.

“Oh, I’ll be leaving Cape Breton – 100 per cent,” he said. “I’m not dealing with this stuff, $500,000 I’d be OK with, but $659,000 is a little high for what it is. It’s a three-bedroom bungalow on a slab.”

Sheppard added that she is hoping for a one-year assessment freeze in Nova Scotia, similar to the one put in place for this year in New Brunswick.

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