Administration

THE 2022 TAX SALE HAS BEEN CANCELLED. BOTH PROPERTIES HAVE PAID.

Pursuant to section 645 of the Local Government Act, the Village will be auctioning off two properties for this years tax sale on September 26, 2022 at 10:00am unless delinquent taxes are paid sooner. See attachment for details.

Roll Number	PID	Civic Address	Legal Description
908.014	001-306-707	531 Muchalat Crt	Lot: 14, Block: , Plan: VIP29953, District Lot: 637, Nootka Land District
1001.000	003-779-637	425 Nimpkish Dr	Lot 1, Block J, Plan VIP18671, District Lot 637, Nootka Land District

The following notes are intended to provide a general outline of the tax sale process. For complete information, prospective purchasers should consult the Local Government Act, in particular (but not limited to) Sections 645 to 672.

 

Process

The annual tax sale is held in the form of a public auction on the last Monday in September. It is a collection tool that enables municipalities to recover outstanding property taxes. Properties with three years of outstanding taxes are auctioned to the highest bidder.

Tax Sale Information

The Township is required by the Local Government Act to sell at Tax Sale all properties whose taxes have not been paid for three years. The Local Government Act gives the Collector authority to sell a property for the Upset Price, which equals all outstanding taxes, penalties, interest, 5% tax sale costs, and Land Title Office fees. All property sales are “as is” without warrant or guarantee by the Township of Langley.

Advertising

The Local Government Act requires municipalities to advertise in a local paper not less than 3, or more than 10 days prior to the Tax Sale. The legal description and street address must be published. To avoid your property being listed in this ad in the newspaper, your delinquent taxes must be paid by September 2, prior to the Tax Sale date.

Tax Sale

A public auction will be held at 10:00 am, on the last Monday in September each year in Council Chambers, Civic Facility. Bidding is accepted on all properties. Prospective bidders are advised that it is their responsibility to search the title of the property in advance to determine if there are any charges registered against the property. The minimum bid is the amount of the Upset Price. If no bidding takes place within three calls by the Collector (auctioneer), the Township is declared the purchaser at the Upset Price.

Purchasing Property

Full payment (i.e. cash, bank draft, certified cheque) must be remitted immediately. If a purchaser leaves the premises without paying, they will lose the property. If payment is not remitted, the Collector again offers the property for sale.

Notifying Charge Holders

The Collector is required by law to search all property titles, and within 90 days after Tax Sale notify all registered charge holders shown on each property.

Redemption

Property owners have a one-year time period following the sale, in which the property can be redeemed. During that period, the property may be redeemed, by paying the outstanding charges and interest. The original owner has one year after the property is sold at Tax Sale to pay the taxes and retain their property. This is called redemption. All registered charge holders have full right to redeem the property.

To redeem the property, the charge holder must remit the full upset price, plus interest on the purchase price at a rate set by the Province, within one year of the Tax Sale. As soon as the property is redeemed, the Collector will refund to the Tax Sale purchaser the purchase price, plus interest to the date of redemption.

Property Not Redeemed

If the property is not redeemed during the one year period, the Collector registers the new owner with Land Title and Survey Authority, thus cancelling all previous registered charges, except for those matters set out in Section 276(1)(a) to (g) of the Land Title Act and any lien of the Crown, an improvement district, or a local district.

The new owners are required to pay the property sales tax to the Provincial Sales Tax Administrator after application has been made to register in the Land Titles Office.

The 2022 Tax Notices have been mailed out. Please note, property owners are responsible for payment of the 2022 property taxes regardless of whether or not a notice is received. If you have not received your notice by mid-June, please contact the Village Office at 250-283-2202 for assistance. Reminder that we have updated to a combined notice. A postmark is not valid as a date of payment.

New owners should ensure taxes are paid on their property. If there is any doubt, please call the Village at 250-283-2202.

Click here for more information on Property Taxes

Annual Home Owner Grant

Municipalities can no longer accept applications.

Home Owner Grant applications must now be made directly to the Province at gov.bc.ca/homeownergrant or phone 1-888-355-2700 to speak with a Province of BC agent. Home Owner Grants must be claimed each year, if eligible. Program details and eligibility remain the same. If eligible, you can claim your grant regardless of how or when you pay your property taxes. The grant will reduce your property tax balance owing.

How to Avoid a Penalty

Property tax payments MUST be received by the Village on or before July 4, 2022. It is the property owner’s responsibility to claim the Annual Home Owner Grant every year, if eligible, even if you are not making a payment or your mortgage company is paying your property taxes.

You can only claim one home owner grant in a calendar year, and only one property owner can apply for the grant. While grant applications can be made up until December 31, only those claimed prior to the due date will avoid the 10% penalty.

Property Tax Deferment

Property tax deferment is a low interest loan program offered by the Provincial Government that helps qualified BC homeowners pay their annual property taxes on their principal residence.
Home owners must apply directly to the Province to defer their property taxes. You may defer payment of your property taxes if you meet the provincial program criteria including:

• Principal residence
• Being 55 or older, or
• A surviving spouse, or
• A person with disability or financially support a dependent child with disability or is under the age of 18.

Residency, citizenship and equity criteria must also be met. To learn more visit gov.bc.ca/propertytaxdeferment or phone 1-888-355-2700. Home owners are responsible for paying any Utilities listed on the property tax notice and claiming the Home Owner Grant.

Pursuant to Section 464 of the Local Government Act RSBC 2015, the Council of the Village of Gold River gives notice it will hold a Public Hearing on June 7 at 7:00pm at the Community Centre. The purpose of this public hearing is to consider the proposed Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 706.9, 2022. The proposed bylaw is a text amendment to add a Small Animal Veterinarian Clinic as a permitted use for Central Commercial Zone – C.1.

For more details see link.

Public Hearing Notice – Zoning Bylaw Vet Clinic

The Village of Gold River has made some amendments to the Permissive Tax Exemption Policy. All non-profit organizations seeking a Permissive Tax Exemption will need to apply by July 15, 2022. A successful application will normally be approved for up to three years unless the applicant is leasing their space.

Policy 214 (Admin) Permissive Tax Exemption

The Village of Gold River will be holding a Public Hearing on March 21, 2022 at 7:00pm in Council Chambers at the Village Office to hear public comments regarding a proposed zoning amendment.

The zoning amendment will allow for Bitcoin Mining and Data Centers to become a permitted use in the Heavy Industrial Zone – M.1.

All persons who believe their interest in property may be affected by  the proposed bylaw and wish to register an opinion may do so by:

1. Appearing before Council on the date of the hearing; Or,
2. Forward written submissions for Council’s consideration, prior to 5:00pm on March 16, 2022 to the Village Office, or to

Formal Notice: Public Hearing Notice – Zoning Bylaw Bitcoin

The Village of Gold River has been developing the case for a supportive housing solution with assistance from Providence Health Care, M’akola Housing Society, and M’akola Development Services. Senior’s housing and supportive housing has been on Council’s radar for the past several years with many discussions taking place with various provincial entities. One of the major problems that has been noted with seniors living in community is the lack of support services available requiring some residents to move into long-term care prematurely, or move to a larger community to access these services.

The Goal of this project is to create supportive housing that will allow seniors to stay in their community of choice and offer services that support independence. This paper proposes that a 20-unit non-profit housing complex be developed with some hospitality services being offered on an as needed basis. At this stage in the process, the case has been outlined, and has been shared with our MLA, the Ministers of Housing and Health, BC Housing, and BC’s Seniors Advocate. The Village has been working with the province to identify grant funding that could help make this project a reality.

Staff report with housing strategy paper below: https://goldriver.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/20220202-Supportive-Housing-Strategy.pdf