Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK

Depending on where you live in the Thompson and Okanagan regions, your property taxes can vary by more than $4,700 when they come due July 2.

Last week, iNFOnews.ca looked at what basic taxes will be paid on a $500,000 home in the five major cities in these regions. Kamloops topped that list.

But that’s only one way to look at property tax differences between cities. The size, location and type of home that can be purchased in Kamloops can be quite different from what that same amount of money can buy in Penticton, Enderby or Kelowna.

The provincial government posts an annual list of taxes paid based on the average assessed value of detached single-family houses in each community in B.C., which it calls a “representative” house value. Those numbers are not the average home prices in a community since they don't include things like condominiums or duplexes.

Our earlier look only covered basic taxes such as municipal, regional district and school taxes.

The government list includes those but adds in things like parcel taxes and user fees. It does not deduct the Homeowner's Grant.

Sun Peaks had the highest average price for single-family houses in the region in 2019 at $900,206 which carried the highest tax bill in the regions at $6,338.

The cheapest houses were in Cache Creek where they averaged a mere $150,000 but still paid $2,061 in taxes. Barriere had the lowest tax bill in the entire province at $1,585.

For the region’s biggest cities, West Kelowna had the top tax bill at $5,244 for a house valued at $677,019 while Penticton charged only $4,126 for a house valued at $500,707. The average Kamloops house got off better than the average house in Kelowna.

Provincially, West Vancouver topped the list with an average house valued at a whopping $3,348,434 and paying taxes of $10,416.

Granisle had the lowest valued houses at $52,845 but the owner still paid taxes of $2,272.

Here’s the five major cities in this region with property values on the left, followed by taxes paid in 2019 to the right, in brackets.

$677,019 ($5,244) – West Kelowna
$704,929 ($4,496 – Kelowna
$443,063 ($4,343) – Kamloops
$498,523 ($4,202) – Vernon
$500,707 ($4,126) – Penticton

Here are other towns and cities in the regions ranked from highest to lowest taxes.

$900,206 ($6,338) – Sun Peaks
$580,463 ($4,581) – Summerland
$695,278 ($4,536) – Lake Country
$609,756 ($4,136) – Peachland
$398,835 ($3,880) – Salmon Arm
$264,205 ($3,545) – Merritt
$391,377 ($3,483) – Oliver
$329,663 ($3,286) – Lumby
$326,954 ($3,254) – Sicamous
$211,179 ($3,240) – Ashcroft
$429,687 ($3,146) – Osoyoos
$236,862 ($2,784) – Clearwater
$402,560 ($2,737) – Armstrong
$271,065 ($2,614) – Keremeos
$370,269 ($2,414) – Spallumcheen
$230,210 ($2,222) – Logan Lake
$150,095 ($2,061) – Cache Creek
$217,826 ($1,585) – Barrier

Here’s where to find the full provincial list. Look for Schedule 704 under Tax Rates & Burden by Schedule

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