B.C. Assessment, a Crown corporation, plans to change pipeline property valuations, reducing industrial tax assessments by an estimated 23% to 30%, shifting hundreds of thousands of dollars as a tax burden onto homeowners and small businesses in communities where pipelines make up much of the commercial tax base.

In 2016, an industry group accounting for 90% of B.C.’s pipelines by value (including Enbridge, TC Energy, Trans Mountain, Canadian Natural Resources, Encana, Pacific Northern Gas, FortisBC, AltaGas and Pembina) approached B.C. Assessment about reviewing their assessments. The companies complained the assessed values of their properties “were not representative of the current costs,” according to B.C. Assessment’s Chris Whyte.

The complaints triggered a review, and after years of lobbying, B.C. Assessment is changing how it assesses the value of pipelines. The result is slashed assessment values, dramatically reducing the amount of property tax the companies will pay next year. Whyte said the agency “has maintained a proactive collaborative relationship with the pipeline industry.”

Whyte said the regulation was established in 1986 based on costs and construction techniques for that era.

“This is the first time since then that B.C. Assessment has completed a detailed review of costs,” said Whyte.

Most B.C. properties are assessed based on their market value. The assessed value of houses is calculated based on........

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