Quesnel City Council voted to reconsider the February 21st, 2023, decision approving a one percent tax shift from commercial taxpayers to residential taxpayers.
At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, there was a 4 to 3 vote in favor of rescinding the tax shift.
Councillor Scott Elliot said the tax shifting came at a difficult time for a lot of homeowners.
“To take the tax from commercial and put it directly onto residential was a real challenge for people. We have inflation going through the roof , housing assessments, mortgages, everything. I appreciate the work of City Council because it was the first time, in my knowledge, since I’ve been on Council that we actually did revisit an item and it came out from what I feel is the most positive way.”
Elliot said this decision is positive for the residents as it now brings down the increase substantially.
The average homeowner would have paid about 9.5 percent more than what they paid in 2022.
The estimated tax increase for residential properties is now 5.3 percent, $62.11 for the average residence valued at $349,210 ($17.79 per $100,000 of assessment).
“I think this is the relief that a lot of the residents were looking forward to, they weren’t looking forward to the biggest tax increase in decades,” Elliot said.