Thompson Nicola RD Board Requests BC Assessment Proposed Valuation Changes for Pipelines to be Postponed

Courtesy of the Thompson Nicola Regional District:

The Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) Board of Directors has, for a second time, written an urgent letter to the Ministry of Finance to formally request that proposed changes by BC Assessment to valuation of “Gathering and Transmission Pipelines” be immediately postponed, until such time that local governments have been engaged in a thorough consultation process to ensure fairness and transparency - view the letter here

The latest letter was submitted to the Ministry following a Committee of the Whole meeting on December 12, 2025, where the Board received a detailed report from TNRD staff regarding tax implications as a result of the planned changes to pipeline values by BC Assessment. The Board also sent a letter to the Ministry on October 23, 2025, when preliminary tax impact information was available - click here

During the TNRD staff presentation on December 12, 2025 - the TNRD Board was provided updated figures on expected shifts to taxation. If BC Assessment changes to pipeline values are implemented in 2026 as proposed, there would be a substantial impact to the TNRD and Thompson Regional Hospital District (TRHD) budgets for the foreseeable future, unfairly shifting the tax burden to other property classes.

As proposed, this change by BC Assessment would shift 3.3% of the tax requisition for the 2026 TNRD budget, and would shift 1.7% of the tax requisition for the 2026 TRHD budget. The total amount of property taxes being shifted from pipeline companies to residential and business properties in the TNRD would be approximately $1.3 million each year, beginning in 2026.

“Proposed changes by BC Assessment to the value of pipelines would have substantial negative impacts for TNRD residential and business taxpayers, and consultation with local governments has been severely lacking,” said Barbara Roden, TNRD Board Chair. “Our Board understands that these proposed changes have been under review for many years; however, BC local governments were only informed of the process in September of 2025. The abrupt notice provided by BC Assessment for changes of this magnitude is not sufficient for local governments to reasonably adjust their budgets and ease the anticipated tax burden that this now creates for residents and businesses.”

The TNRD understands that BC Assessment is planning to review valuation of other large-scale utilities, including Railways, and BC Assessment has informed the TNRD that this could increase the value of other properties within the Utilities tax class and offset negative tax impacts for residential ratepayers. Given the apparent imminent plan for BC Assessment to do this wider review, the TNRD asks that the status quo valuation of pipelines remain in effect for at least one additional year, which BC Assessment has had in place since 1986.