Board increases Pitt Lake property assessment more than $200K after appeal that sought reduction

Pitt Lake is pictured in May 2019. (Pete Cline / CTV News Vancouver)

Users of a recreational property in the Lower Mainland who argued that the land's 2021 assessed value was too high have had that assessment nearly doubled by the Property Assessment Appeal Board.

Richard Marty and Dennis Moen appealed the assessed value of the property on Pitt Lake on the grounds that it is at significant risk of landslides.

The pair said the land should be valued at $50,000, rather than the assessor's $111,000 valuation.

In a decision issued and posted online last week, PAAB panel chair Bruce Turner instead rejected both of those proposed valuations. 

Instead, Turner found that there was "insufficient evidence to quantify a landslide risk," and determined that the property's true land value is $313,000 – more than six times the value the appellants were seeking and nearly triple the 2021 assessed value.

Combined with the undisputed value of the structures on the property – described as "two cabins which are connected by decking" – the change brought the total assessed value of the property from $247,000 to $449,000. The appellants had been seeking a reduction to $186,000.

THE PROPERTY

Marty and Moen are not the owners of the property in question. They held the property under lease until 2017, and have continued to occupy it since. It is considered Crown land.

Occupied Crown land in B.C. is assessed and taxed at the value of its "fee simple interest," meaning it's treated essentially the same as if the occupiers owned it outright.

The property has 105 feet of lake frontage on the west side of Pitt Lake and is accessible only by boat.

In support of their position, the appellants noted that two properties in the Moonshine Bay area of Pitt Lake – about three kilometres from where their Crown land is located – had recently had their assessments reduced to $2 because of landslides.

There are 13 lakefront cottages in Moonshine Bay, according to the PAAB decision. All of them are subject to signage posted by "provincial and regional authorities" advising their owners not to visit or stay in them because of landslide risk.

No such signage has been posted at Marty and Moen's cabins, Turner noted in his decision.

"The available evidence does not support that the subject (property) faces the level of risk of the Moonshine Bay properties," the panel chair wrote.

"The report excerpts submitted by the appellants indicate there is potential to ensure a safe building site for new construction upon investigation by a qualified professional."

THE ASSESSMENT

Turner also took issue with evidence presented by the assessor, who shared three recent comparable sales of land on the lakeshore, ranging in price from $342,000 to $531,000.

The assessor adjusted these sales for time and then applied a 65-per-cent reduction when considering the subject property's value, because of landslide risk.

Citing the lack of evidence to quantify that risk, Turner rejected the assessor's reduction and calculated the new assessed value by removing it.