New Brunswick realtors say the Brian Gallant government isn’t going far enough to address all property tax issues in the province.
The New Brunswick Real Estate Association says parts of the system are “embarrassing.”
“We want to ensure that the tax system of the future is taken care of,” said association chair Kari McBride. “In order to do that, we feel that there needs to be a task force put in place.”
McBride says often times, Service New Brunswick’s assessed value of a home can be “vastly different” than its actual market value.
“This past weekend I did sell a home to a couple and the assessed value of the home was $264,900 and the actual purchase price ended up being $230,000,” McBride says.
She says if thousands of assessments were “made up” this year, recent buyers have paid more in transfer tax than they should have.
“In Moncton, one of our greatest markets and one of our hottest markets in New Brunswick, 55% of all those sales the assessed was completely off from the actual sale price.”
The province says its focus is on correcting those recent errors and awaiting Justice Joseph Robertson’s review.
Premier Brian Gallant did not answer any further questions on the matter last week.
“I'm not going to do the review through media,” Gallant said on Wednesday. “We think Justice Robertson should be given the time that he needs to do the review.”
Justice Robertson's deadline is August. But realtors say more needs to be done, and more quickly, so that future buyers can trust the system they're buying into.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Laura Brown.
