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Wednesday, January 6, 2016
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Vol.8 • Issue 54
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Nelson property assessments up 5.7% BILL METC ALFE Nelson Star
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Celeste Moola clutched her father Shiraz for warmth while dozens of Nelsonites braved the frigid temperatures of Kootenay Lake during the 2016 Polar Bear swim on Friday. Will Johnson photo
‘A great bunch of Nelson crazies’ WILL JOHNSON Nelson Star
People have a variety of reasons for participating in the annual Polar Bear Swim at Lakeside Park, but not all of them make sense. “I think it’s insane, actually,” said Colleen Driscoll, who was dressed Friday as Kootenay Lake
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Hospital’s New Year’s baby. Joined by the Mountain Spirit Team, she was participating to honour their departed friend Hazel Miller. “She meant everything to us. She was our spirit, we loved her to pieces and we miss her so much. She died in September in her sleep.”
Miller, who lived in Nelson and worked in Salmo, was there both in spirit and in photographic form — Driscoll shared a printed out image of the pair from a past Polar Bear Swim. She handed it to her husband, city councillor Robin CONTINUED ON A14
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The assessed value of residential properties in Nelson has gone up an average of 5.7 per cent in 2015. Rises in each of the previous three years were less than two per cent. “This year’s increase is fairly typical for our region, not outside the norm,” said Ramaish Shah, deputy assessor for the BC Assessment Authority. “A change of from minus five to plus five percent is a stable change.” He said most most homeowners in the Kootenay Columbia region will see modest increases depending on the location. “For example, a typical single family home in Nelson previously assessed at $315,000 was valued at $333,000 in the summer of 2015,” he said. Increases in neighouring communities this year include Castlegar at 3.9 per cent, Slocan 2.7 per cent, Silverton 9.4 per cent, New Denver 5.4 per cent, and Creston 3.6 per cent. Kaslo is unchanged and there were a number of decreases: Salmo minus 2.8 per cent, Nakusp minus four per cent, and Trail minus 6.6 per cent. According to BC Assessment, Nelson is the highest valued community in the West Kootenay. However, the top 30 highest-valued properties in the Kootenays are all in and around Invermere, Fernie, and Golden, topped by a $5.25 million home in Invermere. The most expensive West Kootenay property is an acreage at 1659 Highway 3A at Four Mile, assessed at $2.4 million. The only other local properties to crack the top 100 were acreages at 15660 Fish Hawk Bay Rd. in Riondel and 10231 Twin Bays Rd. in Twin Bays on the East Shore of Kootenay Lake, each valued at $1.9 million. BC Assessment is a Crown corporation that classifies and values all property in BC. Each January the corporation sends a notice to property owners telling them the fair market value of their property as of July 1 of the previous year. Municipal governments then use those numbers when applying their tax rates. Shah said people unsatisfied with their assessments should call the number listed on their notice, and if after a discussion with staff they are not satisfied, they can file a notice of complaint by the deadline of Feb. 1. He said each year less than one per cent of residential owners file such notices. You can also view bcassessment.ca for more details about property assessments.
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