The mayor of Sun Peaks says he expects property values in the village to jump again for 2020, albeit not as much as this year.

Al Raine says he suspects assessed property values were flat for several years, which has led to many property owners seeing huge jumps in the past two years.

He says his own personal property’s assessed value went up by 56 per cent in 2019.

“That has ramifications for us when we pay our portion of the regional taxes. Like the (Thompson Nicola Regional District) taxes, the hospital taxes and the school taxes. The rates for those taxes are not controlled by the municipality and they’re just based on the assessed value,” Raine says.

“I think maybe people are realizing that as their property values up, especially if they go up at increases that are higher than the rest of the region, they’re going to pay more taxes. And maybe they’re understanding that that’s something the municipality has no control over.”

As for the municipal portion of property taxes – which makes up 40 per cent of property tax bills for owners – Raine says that is expected to be between 2.8 and 3 per cent for next year.