{
  "id": "property-tax-vs-inflation",
  "parent": "consumer-prices-victoria",
  "category": "City finances",
  "title": "City property tax on a representative house, compared with inflation",
  "geography": "City of Victoria (tax); Victoria consumer price index area (prices)",
  "scope": "city",
  "levels": [
    "Municipal (City budget and tax rates)",
    "Property assessments (BC Assessment)"
  ],
  "plain_question": "Has the City's own property tax on a typical house risen faster or slower than prices in general?",
  "value": 47.5,
  "display_value": "+47.5%",
  "unit": "since 2020 (prices +19.2%)",
  "period": "Tax years 2020 to 2025",
  "period_start": "2020-01-01",
  "period_end": "2025-12-31",
  "comparison": {
    "previous_period": "2020",
    "previous_value": 2756,
    "change_percent": 47.5
  },
  "since_text": "$2,756 in 2020 → $4,065 in 2025. Grown with prices it would be $3,284",
  "trend": "context",
  "trend_basis": "The general municipal tax on the Province's representative Victoria house was $2,756 in 2020 and $4,065 in 2025 (+47.5%). Victoria's consumer price index rose +19.2% over the same years (130.4 to 155.4). In 2020 dollars, the 2025 tax is $3,411, +23.8% above the 2020 amount. 2026 tax: $4,557 (the 2026 price index is not published yet).",
  "direction_good": "down",
  "right_direction": "This page compares two numbers and gives no “better” or “worse” label: property tax pays for City services, and this site takes no position on the right level.",
  "caveats": [
    "Calculated here. The tax is the “General Municipal” column of the Province's Schedule 704 for Victoria: the City's own general tax on a representative house. School, regional district, hospital and other levies and utility charges are not included.",
    "The representative house changes every year: it is the average assessed value of a single-family home in that year (2020: $884,826, 2021: $928,811, 2022: $1,150,024, 2023: $1,230,097, 2024: $1,228,984, 2025: $1,204,449, 2026: $1,223,948). Part of the change reflects that, so treat the comparison as indicative.",
    "Police costs are part of the City's general tax.",
    "Prices are Statistics Canada's annual average consumer price index for Victoria."
  ],
  "charts": [
    {
      "title": "City general tax on a representative house, and the 2020 amount grown with prices",
      "fmt": "money",
      "unit": "",
      "lines": [
        {
          "name": "City general tax, representative house",
          "area": "city",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2020",
              "value": 2756
            },
            {
              "period": "2021",
              "value": 2992
            },
            {
              "period": "2022",
              "value": 3322
            },
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 3458
            },
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 3757
            },
            {
              "period": "2025",
              "value": 4065
            },
            {
              "period": "2026",
              "value": 4557
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "2020 tax grown with Victoria prices",
          "area": "cpi",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2020",
              "value": 2756
            },
            {
              "period": "2021",
              "value": 2824
            },
            {
              "period": "2022",
              "value": 3020
            },
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 3132
            },
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 3210
            },
            {
              "period": "2025",
              "value": 3284
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "calc": {
    "formula": "Tax change = tax in 2025 ÷ tax in 2020 − 1. Price change = price index 2025 ÷ price index 2020 − 1. 2020 tax grown with prices = tax 2020 × price index in the year ÷ price index 2020.",
    "steps": [
      "Tax: $4,065 ÷ $2,756 − 1 = +47.5%.",
      "Prices: 155.4 ÷ 130.4 − 1 = +19.2%.",
      "$2,756 × 155.4 ÷ 130.4 = $3,284."
    ],
    "inputs": [
      {
        "name": "Local Government Statistics, Schedule 704: Taxes and Charges on a Representative House (Victoria, General Municipal)",
        "agency": "Province of B.C., Local Government Statistics",
        "url": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/local-governments/finance/local-government-statistics/schedule704_2025.xlsx",
        "dataset_url": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/local-governments/facts-framework/statistics/tax-rates-tax-burden",
        "period": "2020 to 2026",
        "licence": {
          "name": "Public data, not under an open licence. Used with attribution.",
          "url": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/home/copyright",
          "open": false,
          "note": "Older years of this schedule (to 2012) are in the BC Data Catalogue under the Open Government Licence – British Columbia; the current files carry no licence statement."
        },
        "data_published": ""
      },
      {
        "name": "Consumer Price Index, all items, annual average, Victoria",
        "agency": "Statistics Canada",
        "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1810000501",
        "dataset_url": "https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/4be5f92b-8546-4e76-ad98-bcf9d4b8aeed",
        "table": "18-10-0005-01",
        "period": "2020 to 2025",
        "data_published": "2026-01-19",
        "licence": {
          "name": "Open Government Licence - Canada",
          "url": "https://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada"
        },
        "attribution": "Adapted from Statistics Canada, table 18-10-0005-01. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product."
      }
    ]
  },
  "refresh_frequency": "Annually (Province updates Schedule 704 each summer; price index each January)",
  "verified_text": [
    "Schedule 704 2020, row 'Victoria': House Value 884,826, General Municipal 2,756",
    "Schedule 704 2021, row 'Victoria': House Value 928,811, General Municipal 2,992",
    "Schedule 704 2022, row 'Victoria': House Value 1,150,024, General Municipal 3,322",
    "Schedule 704 2023, row 'Victoria': House Value 1,230,097, General Municipal 3,458",
    "Schedule 704 2024, row 'Victoria': House Value 1,228,984, General Municipal 3,757",
    "Schedule 704 2025, row 'Victoria': House Value 1,204,449, General Municipal 4,065",
    "Schedule 704 2026, row 'Victoria': House Value 1,223,948, General Municipal 4,557"
  ],
  "source": {
    "name": "Calculated here from Province of B.C., Local Government Statistics and Statistics Canada data",
    "url": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/local-governments/finance/local-government-statistics/schedule704_2025.xlsx",
    "dataset_url": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/local-governments/facts-framework/statistics/tax-rates-tax-burden"
  },
  "licence": {
    "name": "Public data, not under an open licence. Used with attribution.",
    "url": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/home/copyright",
    "open": false,
    "note": "Older years of this schedule (to 2012) are in the BC Data Catalogue under the Open Government Licence – British Columbia; the current files carry no licence statement."
  },
  "derived": true,
  "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11T08:32:41Z",
  "data_published": "2026-01-19",
  "attribution": "Adapted from Statistics Canada, table 18-10-0005-01. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.",
  "series": [
    {
      "period": "2020",
      "value": 2756
    },
    {
      "period": "2021",
      "value": 2992
    },
    {
      "period": "2022",
      "value": 3322
    },
    {
      "period": "2023",
      "value": 3458
    },
    {
      "period": "2024",
      "value": 3757
    },
    {
      "period": "2025",
      "value": 4065
    },
    {
      "period": "2026",
      "value": 4557
    }
  ],
  "licence_type": "public"
}