An Opposition critic suspects the NDP government is preparing for a potential drop in property values in areas where Aboriginal title claims create uncertainty.

A short amendment to assessment law that could have the effect of protecting property tax revenues from drops in market value is included in Bill 2, the Budget Measures Implementation Act, a lengthy catalogue of all the legal moves needed to adopt the budget.

The assessment change is intriguing, given the concerns that arose in Richmond since the Cowichan title ruling last year about the impact that decision would have on property values.

It states that the B.C. Assessment Authority, which sets the taxable value of all property, is “not required to consider any restriction” placed on the use of land by any entity other than the Crown or local governments.

Conservative Party of B.C. MLA Gavin Dew said the amendment “deserves much more scrutiny than it will probably get.”

Property values are “affected when buyers worry that unresolved claims, disputes or assorted constraints could delay development, increase legal exposure or reduce the practical use of the land,” he said.

Any restrictions arising from concerns about land claims would lower values. But the amendment would allow assessors to ignore them.

Dew is questioning whether assessed values on lands where Aboriginal claims are a concern would be “artificially propped up” — along with taxation rates.

The assessment law change comes after months of public concern about what the Cowichan Aboriginal title decision last August means to property values for the hundreds of hectares in Richmond that are at issue.

Read the full article at Times Colonist: MLA says assessment change aims to stop value drop after Aboriginal title decision