TAXPAYER AFFORDABILITY TEST - WHAT COUNCIL IGNORES

Your Assessment Isn’t Your Paycheque: Nanaimo Needs a Real Taxpayer Affordability Test

Every budget season, there’s a familiar line that shows up around council tables across B.C.: Don’t worry about the tax increase—your home value went up even more.

It sounds like common sense. It’s also the wrong measure of affordability.

Because property taxes are paid with cashflow, not with paper gains.

The basic error: confusing net worth with ability to pay

A higher home value can make you “richer” on paper, but it does not put money in your bank account. Most homeowners can’t spend their assessment increase at the grocery store, the gas pump, or on a property tax due date.

To turn home equity into cash, you typically have only two options:

1. Sell (and give up the home), or

2. Borrow against it (refinance/HELOC/reverse mortgage—meaning more debt and interest costs).

So when someone argues that rising home values “justify” rising taxes, the practical message is: If you’re short on cash, monetize your home—sell or borrow.

That is not affordability. That’s liquidation.

The line Nanaimo should adopt

Here’s the standard council should commit to:

Taxpayer affordability must be tested against income and cost-of-living—not against non-cash, unrealized home values.

Assessments are not ATM receipts. They are a valuation tool used to distribute a levy that is driven by budget decisions. (British Columbia Government)

If Nanaimo wants public trust, it should stop treating rising home values as a blank cheque and start publishing the scoreboard that answers the only question that matters:

"Can taxpayers actually afford this—out of their income—without selling their home or borrowing more?"