When Saint John, N.B., homeowner Gregory Grondin opened his 2024 property assessment letter, he was taken aback, to say the least.
He describes it as a bitter pill to swallow.
“Along with a lot of other folks, I’m a bit shocked by it,” he said.
Grondin lives on the lower west side of the city — a stone’s throw from the Port of Saint John and the American Iron and Metal (AIM) scrap recycling facility.
He saw a 30 per cent jump in the assessed value of his home without making any major improvements. He plans on appealing that assessment since he doubts his home would fetch that amount on the open market because of the location.
“(There’s) a lot of truck traffic that comes down my street. We’ve had an increase in noise and my beautiful view of the water is now a view of cranes,” he said.
Grondin is among the 41 per cent of homeowners whose assessment increase was greater than 10 per cent, as the province’s real estate market remains strong. That means he’ll qualify for spike protection and only receive a 10 per cent increase this year. However, he will still have to absorb the remaining 20 per cent in future years.
He says the timing of the increases is terrible, considering many are already struggling to make ends meet.
“It’s just that extra bit of weight. It’s like you’re drowning and someone hands you a brick,” he said.
Service New Brunswick Minister Mary Wilson told Global News the final tax burden is ultimately up to municipalities.
“We have 89 local governments in the province. They’re the ones that are going to set that rate to determine what homeowners will pay, so I can’t really predict what the tax bills will be,” Wilson said Monday.
But the executive director of the Union of New Brunswick Municipalities, Dan Murphy, says local governments are facing tough choices too. They’re struggling with increased costs as well, and are looking for options to avoid putting the burden solely on homeowners.
“We’re looking for other alternatives to do that, so whether that’s maybe looking at adding additional tax classifications or flexibility on how to adjust that,” he said.
“Decoupling the rates is another thing. There’s a lot of options in this field.”
The province has promised that it will begin looking at how local governments are funded this year.
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