How much is a private island in Howe Sound worth? B.C. assessment appeal board weighs in
The corporate owner of a private island near Vancouver has successfully appealed the assessed value of the property.
North Growth Management, Ltd., appealed the 2021 assessment of Popham Island, a roughly 45-acre island in the mouth of Howe Sound, located approximately five kilometres south of Gibsons, B.C., on the Sunshine Coast, and 20 kilometres from Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver.
The island was assessed at $4,464,000 in 2021, but the company argued before the Property Assessment Appeal Board that this figure was more than double the island's actual value.
PAAB panel chair Allan Beatty did not accept the company's proposed $2,134,000 assessment for the island, but he did reduce the assessed value in his decision on the case, which was issued last week.
According to Beatty's decision, North Growth reached its estimate for the value of the property by looking at seven sales of private islands in B.C. dating back to January 2014.
The company used these sale values to estimate a price-per-acre for each one, then selected an actual value of about $51,000 per acre for its property.
"It is not clear in the appellant’s submission how this figure was calculated," Beatty wrote in his decision.
The board chair noted that the company neglected to make any adjustments to the sale prices of the comparable properties it had identified, arguing that such adjustments were not necessary.
"According to the appellant, the moderation in overall prices paid for larger private islands is due in part to the increased cost associated with owning this type of property, including costs for building materials, rising fuel prices and costs associated with water access," Beatty wrote.
"More recently, the appellant says that the introduction of the vacancy tax and additional school tax on high-value properties also contributes to a generally lower demand and stable to declining prices for private island property."
For its part, the assessor for Area 8 – Vancouver Sea to Sky Region argued that adjustments to the prices of comparable sales were necessary.
After accounting for time since the most recent sale and various other factors related to comparable islands' locations and characteristics, the assessor concluded that the actual value of Popham Island should be in the vicinity of $120,000 per acre.
Beatty was also unsatisfied with the assessor's calculations. While he concluded that a time adjustment was necessary, he determined that the assessor's was too high.
The board chair found all of the parties' other arguments to be lacking substantive data.
"Both parties rely on qualitative approaches to reconcile the data except for the time adjustment, which I have already ruled on," Beatty wrote.
"I find it notable that both parties are critical of each other but do not provide me with market-supported evidence or analysis to choose one party’s evidence over the other."
Ultimately, based on his own calculation of the appropriate time adjustment for comparable sales, Beatty settled on a price-per-acre of $80,000, resulting in a revised assessment of $3.6 million for the island.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Spring allergy season has begun. Where is it worse in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
'Nonsense:' Doug Ford slams lawsuits filed by Ontario school boards against social media platforms
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Record-breaking N.B. lottery winner kept winning ticket on dresser for nearly a year
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
Multiple bridges in Calgary shut down for police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
King Charles calls for acts of friendship in first public remarks since Kate's cancer diagnosis
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
Fallen crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison
Crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for a massive fraud that unravelled with the collapse of FTX, once one of the world's most popular platforms for exchanging digital currency.
A dog and a bird formed an unlikely friendship. Their separation has infuriated followers
Peggy is a stout and muscular Staffordshire bull terrier, and Molly is a magpie, an Australian bird best known for swooping on humans during breeding season, not for befriending dogs. But in an emotional video posted online, Peggy’s owners announced that the animals had been separated.
Tipping is off the table at this Toronto restaurant
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.