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About BC Assessment 

BC Assessment produces independent, uniform and efficient property assessments on an annual basis for all property owners in the province.

Structure

BC Assessment operates as an independent, provincial Crown corporation, governed by a Board of Directors and is accountable to the Government of B.C.

The President and CEO of BC Assessment is supported by an Executive Committee. The Board is appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council.

BC Assessment's head office is located in Victoria. Its 16 area offices, located in ten regions, are situated in 10 regions in various geographic locations throughout British Columbia.

Mandate

The mandate of BC Assessment is to establish and maintain uniform real property assessments throughout British Columbia in accordance with the Assessment Act. The Act also requires that BC Assessment produce annual rolls with assessments at market value.

Assessors determine the market value of land and improvements and enter those values on the Assessment Roll. For 95 per cent of all properties on the Roll, assessed value is the market value as of July 1. The remaining five per cent are subject to legislative restrictions.

BC Assessment is structured in the following units:

  • Office of the President and CEO (including Communications and Strategic Management)
  • Field Operations 
  • Policy and Legal Services
  • Business and Customer Services
  • Human Resources
  • Finance

Office of the President and CEO

Responsible for:

  • Overall management and co-ordination of BC Assessment's functions, operations, products and services
  • Serving as the main point of contact for the Board of Directors, the Minister responsible for BC Assessment, the Office of the Premier, and other senior government officials and assessment bodies.
  • Communications Department
    • Producing print and web communications materials to help the public understand the property assessment process
    • Building greater awareness for BC Assessment products and services with different communities
  • Strategic Management Department
    • Strategic and business planning, including three-year Service Plan
    • Corporate reporting, including Annual Service Plan report
    • Corporate performance management
    • Enterprise Risk Manamagement (ERM)

Policy and Legal Services

Responsible for:

  • Liaison with Ministries of government on assessment issues
  • Research and development of assessment and valuation policy
  • Provision and management of legal support services
  • Legislative and regulatory support services
  • Development of assessment standards
  • Coordination of contract administration for First Nations Assessment services
  • Information policy initiatives
  • Freedom of information and protection of privacy
  • Quality assurance and business processes
  • Research and benchmarking

Business and Customer Services

Responsible for:

  • Customer Solutions
  • Information Technology
  • Project Management

Field Operations

Responsible for:

  • Performance of field operations for the entire province
  • Non-market and market property assessment
  • Assessment administration
  • Valuation/appeal coordination

Human Resources

Responsible for:

  • Talent management
  • Labour relations
  • Capacity and succession planning
  • Culture change
  • Employee and performance compensation
  • Training and development

Finance

Responsible for:

  • Financial Services
  • Internal audit including audit of the assessment rolls
  • Facilities
  • Marketing revenue contract management

BC Assessment sent 2,084,310 assessment notices to British Columbia property owners on December 31, 2011, an increase of 0.87% from last year’s total of 2,066,261.

Below you will find related information and documents.

2012-2014 Service Plan.pdf2012-2014 Service Plan
2012 Government's Letter of Expectation.pdf2012 Government's Letter of Expectation
BCA 2010 Annual Service Plan Report.pdf2010 Annual Report 
BCA Corporate History updated 11-07-05.pdfBCA Corporate History updated 11-07-05
2011 Levy Remittance Form.xls2011 Levy Remittance Form
2011 Tax Levy Remittance Form.pdf2011 Tax Levy Remittance Form [PDF Version]
Service Commitment.pdfService Commitment
1992_paper_Real_Property_Taxation_Three_Alternative_Systems.pdf1992 Real Property Taxation Three Alternative Systems
1992_paper_Real_Property_Tax_101.pdf1992 Real Property Tax 101
2009_Tax_Levy_Letter.pdfBC Assessment Letter to Tax Collectors
2009_tax_levy_bylaw.pdfBC Assessment Tax Levy Bylaw
BCAA_Rack_Card_CSE.pdfService Commitment and Service Standards
BCAA_Poster_CSE.pdfPoster
BCAA_Brochure_CSE.pdfBrochure
A_Brief_History_of_Property_Tax.pdfA Brief History of Property Tax by Richard Henry Calson
1992_paper_Evolution_of_Real_Property_Taxation_BC.pdfEvolution of Real Property Taxation in BC