BC Assessment says nearly 99% of owners agree with their property assessment. Did anyone ask you?

Their release is titled "Nearly 99% of Property Owners Agree with their 2026 Assessments."[1] Your assessment sets your property tax. Most owners never check it. FairValue compares it to homes near you and to your home's real facts, using assessment and sales data you can verify yourself. Free.

Check My Assessment: Free

No credit card. Takes the address you already know.

What the system counts on

Most owners never check.

BC Assessment's 2026 roll report: 99% of assessments were accepted without an appeal filed. Accepted is not the same as checked.[2]

Source: BC Assessment, Province-wide property assessments, 2026 roll

The proof burden is on you.

In the Youbou, BC flood-zone appeals, the last group of homeowners waited about 18 months and pooled over $10,000 for surveyors and appraisers.[3]

Source: Victoria News, Feb 18 2025

The dates are fixed.

A PARP complaint is due by January 31, or the next business day when it falls on a weekend. A PAAB appeal is due by April 30.[4]

Sources: PAAB, How to File a Property Assessment Appeal; BC Assessment news release, Apr 27 2026

How It Works

Three steps, on data you can verify.

1

Look up your home

Enter your address. The FairValue tool stores both assessment and sales data for your home and the homes near you, then reads it back as a plain comparison.

2

See the gap

Enter your home's real details. FairValue scores how far BC Assessment's record and nearby values are from yours.

3

Decide

An Appeal Pack gives you a structured evidence file for your complaint. Paid, price on the pricing page.

Join other BC homeowners checking what their home is actually worth.

Why this exists

BC Assessment sets a value for your home every year. Your property tax bill follows from it. When it is too high, you pay more than your fair share of a bill that was already set, and the only way to say so is your own time, your own evidence, and sometimes your own money.

In Youbou, BC, twenty-five homeowners appealed after a 28% one-year jump on waterfront properties. Earlier neighbours won $11 million, then $4 million, in reductions. The last group waited about eighteen months and spent over $10,000 on evidence. The appeal board's own letter called the assessor's request for more time "disappointing."

Source: Victoria News, Feb 18 2025 and Victoria News, Feb 23 2023. FairValue did not exist for those appeals and cannot promise those outcomes.

Citizens' Advocacy Service is building a suite of tools for the public to practice digital self-defense and push back against a lopsided system. The first tool is FairValue. It is free to use, it stores both assessment and sales data so you can check every number yourself, and no homeowner has to face this alone.

What we do not do

  • We do not file for you.
  • We cannot guarantee a reduction.
  • We do not sell your data.

Checking is not pointless

Of the 4,430 assessment appeals the appeal board completed in 2024, 2,081 ended with a recommendation to change the assessed value, usually a settlement with BC Assessment.[5]

94% of appeals were resolved without a hearing. Evidence gets you to that table.

Source: Property Assessment Appeal Board, 2024 Annual Report. Figures cover all appeal types, not only homes.

Your PARP complaint is due January 31.

Checking takes the address you already know. Start your free checkup.

Get My Free Checkup Now

What we are building next

FairValue is the first of several consumer tools. Tell us which one you want first. These are in development and not yet available:

We email you when the app you picked is ready. No newsletter, no sharing your address.

Sources

  1. BC Assessment, "Nearly 99% of Property Owners Agree with their 2026 Assessments," news release, April 27, 2026. info.bcassessment.ca/news/Pages/Nearly-99-percent-of-Property-Owners-Agree-with-their-2026-Assessments.aspx
  2. BC Assessment, "Province-wide property assessments," 2026 assessment roll report: 2,233,648 properties assessed, 99% accepted without appeal. info.bcassessment.ca/Property-information-and-trends/Pages/Assessment-Roll-Report.aspx
  3. Robert Barron, "One year and counting: Long assessment appeals frustrate Island homeowners," Victoria News, February 18, 2025. vicnews.com/2025-02-18/one-year-and-counting-long-assessment-appeals-frustrate-island-homeowners
  4. Property Assessment Appeal Board, "How to File a Property Assessment Appeal." assessmentappeal.bc.ca/other-guides-resources/information-sheets/how-file-property-assessment-appeal
  5. Property Assessment Appeal Board, 2024 Annual Report, appeal completion statistics (4,430 completed; 2,081 by recommendation; 94% resolved without a hearing). assessmentappeal.bc.ca/.../2024_Annual_Report.pdf

Every figure on this page comes from a public government or news source. Links open the original documents.