On January 8, less than a week after receiving the assessment notice for his 41-year-old tile manufacturing business in Burnaby, Kim Hauner called his 100 staff members together to break the bad news.
鈥淥ur property tax bill this year will be $496,000,鈥� Hauner told them. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have the money I need to have to stay here past July [when the property tax bill is due].鈥�
The assessment for Interstyle Glass and Ceramics鈥� four-acre industrial site, which is located on Brighton Avenue near the Production Way-University SkyTrain station in Burnaby, soared this year to $41,620,000, up from $11,830,000 just a year earlier.
鈥淛ust opening the [assessment] envelope was enough to stop me from sleeping for two days,鈥� he said.
Hauner told his staff that he is fighting the assessment. He has gone to the media, contacted his local MLA, the NDP鈥檚 Katrina Chen, talked to Burnaby City Hall and called the BC Assessment Authority.
He received zero encouragement from the province, the city or assessment authorities, but discovered the reason for the soaring value was due to the sale of a neighbouring 20-acre industrial parcel, the Saputo Inc. dairy plant, that was sold last year for $218 million under a potential redevelopment plan. That deal, to an undisclosed buyer, closes in the first quarter of 2019.
BC Assessment values property based on its highest possible use, not on the current configuration.
鈥淚t is all speculation,鈥� Hauner said. 鈥淭here has been no change in the status of our property. There is no new zoning or redevelopment plans, confirmed by the planning department in Burnaby.鈥�
An annual property tax bill of nearly half-a-million dollars 鈥減uts us out of business, as we don't have the extra money budgeted for this year, which is compounded by the MSP [Medical Service Plan premium increase for employers] and minimum wage increases that also come into effect at this time,鈥� Hauner said.
The provincial Minister of Municipal Affairs had not provided a statement as of press time. NDP MLA Katrina Chen was 鈥渙ut of town and cannot be reached for comment,鈥� according to her office.
Hauner doubts that he would find a buyer willing to pay the assessed value for his property. BC Assessment has valued Interstyle鈥檚 building at just $65,000. To stay in the tile business, he said, would mean relocating out of Metro Vancouver. 鈥淚 make tiles, I鈥檓 not in the real estate business,鈥� he said.
Hauner, 63, doubts anyone would pay the current assessed value, but he conceded such a price could force an exit strategy for him and his investment partners.
鈥淗onestly,鈥� he said, 鈥渋f someone said, 鈥楬ere is $41 million; walk,鈥� why wouldn鈥檛 I do that?鈥�
