Proposed assessment changes to pipelines will shift hefty tax burden onto homeowners: TNRD

“Every single local government in the province that has a pipeline is going to be affected by this and there has been no government consultation,” Roden added.

According to Roden, the TNRD has been given “very vague and hazy reasons” as to why this change is being made.

“One of our directors did point out that it seems very odd to switch to a depreciation method because pipeline operators are required to maintain pipelines on an ongoing basis as if they are new assets,” Roden said. “These are maintained on an annual basis as if they are new, so what depreciation are we talking about?”

In a statement to CFJC, BC Assessment said it updates its regulated rates, including pipelines, on an annual basis.

“Updating our appraisal model for pipelines takes into consideration construction cost data, as well as the physical and functional depreciation,” the statement from BC Assessment said. “The new model will provide cost data that is updated annually which will help to provide improved assessment stability over time.”

A BC Assessment spokesperson also said local governments were formally notified about the proposed changes on Sept. 18, 2025, and that was “in advance” of the traditional assessment preview for the next year, which happens in November.

“[We are] committed to providing advanced notice to our municipal, regional district and Indigenous partners of changes that may impact assessed values prior to the upcoming assessment notices coming this January,” the statement added.

It also noted that the proposed changes still need to be approved by the B.C. Ministry of Finance.

BC Assessment’s Chris Whyte told the TNRD last week that the pipeline companies that called for the changes had complained that the assessed values of their properties “were not representative of the current costs.”

The review involved an industry working group that included Trans Mountain, Enbridge, TC Energy, Canadian Natural Resources, Encana, Pacific Northern Gas, FortisBC, AltaGas and Pembina, Whyte said.

He also said the pipeline’s previous assessed values were based on construction costs from the 1980s and that depreciation costs around pipelines hadn’t been reviewed since the early 2000s.

Whyte also said the revised model of assessing pipelines, using the Marshall & Swift costing platform, has led to a drop in valuation of 27 per cent or $300 million in the TNRD.

“It has a huge impact on residential properties,” TNRD Area ‘M’ Director David Laird said. “Some of our areas only have 300 residents and the cost is going to be so high for the residents…. It doesn’t compute for us.”

“Why is the pipeline not being assessed the same way as the value of the replacement?” Laird added. “I can’t relate to the fact that a company as big as the pipeline companies are being able to depreciate and not pay the proper amount of taxes that they have been paying.”

“The value is obviously more now than it was when they completed the pipeline. You couldn’t build that pipeline again for the amount of money they invested.”

TNRD Area ‘J’ Director Michael Grenier also raised a similar point, saying “pipelines are in high demand.”

“Depreciation is an accounting concept of a piece of steel pipe that has a certain lifetime,” he said. “Pipelines are regularly maintained.”

In a letter to Finance Minister Brenda Bailey, the TNRD said gathering and transmission pipelines are an “enormous taxpayer” within its electoral areas and municipalities, adding that’s largely due to the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline.

“The other thing that is alarming is, we were told next year BC Assessment is intending to review the rates for railways, for telephone companies, cable companies, and potentially electric transmission and distribution lines,” Roden said. “That would have massive implications for every single local government because if you don’t have a railway or a pipeline, you’ve got cable lines and you’ve got electricity lines.”

“Having set the precedent with pipelines, if this potentially goes ahead, then why would other companies like railways and cable companies not say, ‘Hey, we want that, too?'”

Roden said the Ministry of Finance should hold off on changing the rates for pipelines for at least one additional year until such time the other review is completed, so that all potential changes come into effect at once.

“Why the huge hurry to get this one passed?” Roden asked.

“I get that BC Assessment has to assess properties and update valuations on a regular basis. No one is trying to argue they shouldn’t. It’s just we would like more consultation and transparency as to why this is suddenly necessary, and why weren’t local governments looped in and told that this was coming?”

by Victor Kaisar

Proposed assessment changes to pipelines will shift hefty tax burden onto homeowners: TNRD

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