Raising property values would harm tenants, housing co-op says

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This article was published 14/06/2022 (1359 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A local seniors housing co-op returned to the Brandon Provincial Building Tuesday for the second round in their fight against assessment value increases of their properties.

After making a case against the value of a 34-unit apartment complex on McDiarmid Drive increasing from $2,566,100 to $3,276,100 in its 2018 assessment, the manager and board chair of the co-op argued in opposition of the value of a 63-unit building on another street.

The co-op operates a 63-unit complex at 2105 Brandon Ave., which was reassessed from a value of $5,879,500 to $7,302,100.

Co-op board member Harvey Douglas expressed concern to the Sun last week that the added property taxes stemming from the increased property values would force tenants’ rents to rise by more than $100. The co-op’s current annual tax bill is more than $100,000.

“Any increase in taxes will raise the housing charges,” Douglas wrote in an email last week. “As we are operating as a co-operative [non-profit] to provide safe, secure housing for seniors whose income is less than the lower half of the third quintile of income as reported to [the Canada Revenue Agency], any increase will have to come from their savings or what CRA calls discretionary spending funds left after they provide housing for themselves.”

Further tax increases, he said, would make it difficult for the co-op to deliver on its mission of providing affordable housing to Brandon’s seniors. Of the apartments and suites the co-op operates, 75 per cent are considered affordable housing while the other 25 per cent are considered market value.

Another factor is that because the co-op sells shares in the building to tenants, who pay housing charges and not rent, Douglas said the tenants aren’t eligible for government grants and tax programs.

“The request for increase is to maintain the value and equity between this property and surrounding properties, between the City of Brandon and the Province of Manitoba,” assessor Erin Reid said in her opening statement.

Reflective of Monday’s hearing, much of the conversation centred around the expenses and revenues incurred at the property under discussion. It’s the third time the co-op has appealed the assessment for the building since it opened in 2014.

Speaking in favour of the increase in the property’s assessed value, Reid said she did not have the same information for the Brandon Avenue property as she did for the McDiarmid Drive one, which meant she had to extrapolate some figures.

At the end of Tuesday’s hearing, panel chair Barry Todd warned those presenting that the decision could take some time. This is partly because in Todd’s view, the situation surrounding this “very unique property” required some time and effort to review.

“We’ll do our best to move quickly, but don’t look in your mailboxes tomorrow,” he said.

However, he did say that those involved wouldn’t have to wait until Christmas to hear the end result.

In the meantime, the 2023 reassessments are already becoming a concern for the co-op. Douglas told the Sun the assessed value of the Brandon Avenue building is being increased a further 24 per cent, along with a 10.9 per cent increase for the building on McDiarmid Drive.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

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