HOMEOWNERS in West Vancouver should pay attention to the latest point longtime council-watcher George Pajari is attempting to make with district council and its planning staff.
Why? Because the answer might possibly affect how much property tax they pay over the next few years.
When a property is rezoned, for example from single-family to multifamily, its value increases in proportion to what can now be built there. That increase in value is referred to in West Van bureaucratese as "uplift."
In West Vancouver, the municipality's share of the uplift profit is 75 per cent - but it is calculated purely on the increase in base land value, not the "improved" or built-out sale price.
Obviously for the formula to be meaningful, a current and accurate land value must be assessed on the property in question and a value calculated for the new zoning.
Pajari has questioned the valuations West Vancouver has used on two recent developments and argues that the municipality - and its taxpayers - are being shortchanged. He points out that when it comes to calculating the municipality's percentage on the Grosvenor deal in the 1300-block of Marine Drive, millions of dollars are involved.
We are in no position to judge whether the district has received the correct uplift contributions in the two developments that Pajari has questioned to date. But one thing is crystal clear: in the interest of transparency, the appraisal documentation should be part of the public record and not require an FOI application to ferret it out.
