{
  "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": 65.3,
  "display_value": "+65.3%",
  "unit": "since 2020 (prices +21.7%)",
  "period": "Tax years 2020 to 2026",
  "period_start": "2020-01-01",
  "period_end": "2026-12-31",
  "comparison": {
    "previous_period": "2020",
    "previous_value": 2756,
    "change_percent": 65.3
  },
  "prices": {
    "base_period": "2020 annual average",
    "base_value": 130.4,
    "latest_period": "12-month average, October 2025 to September 2026",
    "latest_short": "12 months to Sep 2026",
    "latest_value": 158.76,
    "change_percent": 21.7,
    "provisional": true
  },
  "since_text": "$2,756 in 2020 → $4,557 in 2026. Grown with prices it would be $3,355",
  "trend": "context",
  "trend_basis": "The general municipal tax on the Province's representative Victoria house was $2,756 in 2020, $4,065 in 2025 and $4,557 in 2026 (+12.1% in a year, +65.3% since 2020). Victoria's consumer price index rose +21.7% over the same period (130.4, the 2020 annual average, to 158.76, the 12-month average, October 2025 to September 2026). In 2020 dollars, the 2026 tax is $3,743, +35.8% above the 2020 amount.",
  "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 consumer price index for Victoria: annual averages up to 2025. Prices for 2026 are the average of the latest 12 months of Victoria’s monthly consumer price index (October 2025 to September 2026: 158.76), because Statistics Canada publishes the 2026 annual average in January 2027. The comparison switches to the full 2026 annual average then.",
    "Two more lines from the same Schedule 704 row: general tax plus parcel taxes plus user fees ($5,847 in 2026; $3,775 in 2020), and the whole bill, all taxes and charges ($8,213 in 2026; $5,480 in 2020). The parts of the whole bill add up to the schedule’s total. Who sets each part, with the law, is in the Who decides what table."
  ],
  "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
            },
            {
              "period": "2026",
              "value": 3355
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "Representative house: City general tax, City tax with parcel taxes and user fees, and the whole bill",
      "fmt": "money",
      "unit": "",
      "lines": [
        {
          "name": "City general tax",
          "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": "General tax + parcel taxes + user fees",
          "area": "city",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2020",
              "value": 3775
            },
            {
              "period": "2021",
              "value": 4015
            },
            {
              "period": "2022",
              "value": 4378
            },
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 4570
            },
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 4920
            },
            {
              "period": "2025",
              "value": 5296
            },
            {
              "period": "2026",
              "value": 5847
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "Whole bill (all taxes and charges)",
          "area": "city",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2020",
              "value": 5480
            },
            {
              "period": "2021",
              "value": 5758
            },
            {
              "period": "2022",
              "value": 6222
            },
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 6478
            },
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 6991
            },
            {
              "period": "2025",
              "value": 7498
            },
            {
              "period": "2026",
              "value": 8213
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "bill_parts": {
    "year": 2026,
    "parts": [
      {
        "part": "General Municipal",
        "label": "City general tax",
        "value": 4557,
        "who": "City of Victoria Council"
      },
      {
        "part": "Total Res Parcel Taxes",
        "label": "Parcel taxes",
        "value": 40,
        "who": "Not named in the schedule"
      },
      {
        "part": "Total Res User Fees",
        "label": "User fees",
        "value": 1250,
        "who": "Not named in the schedule"
      },
      {
        "part": "School",
        "label": "School tax",
        "value": 1434,
        "who": "Province of B.C."
      },
      {
        "part": "Regional District",
        "label": "Regional district",
        "value": 295,
        "who": "Capital Regional District Board"
      },
      {
        "part": "Hospital",
        "label": "Hospital district",
        "value": 150,
        "who": "Capital Regional Hospital District Board"
      },
      {
        "part": "BCA, MFA and Other",
        "label": "BC Assessment, Municipal Finance Authority and other",
        "value": 487,
        "who": "BC Assessment, the Municipal Finance Authority and others (the schedule does not split them)"
      }
    ],
    "total": 8213,
    "city_lines": 5847,
    "base_year": 2020,
    "base_city_lines": 3775,
    "base_total": 5480
  },
  "calc": {
    "formula": "Tax change = tax in 2026 ÷ tax in 2020 − 1. Price change = price index (12-month average, October 2025 to September 2026) ÷ price index (2020 annual average) − 1. 2020 tax grown with prices = tax 2020 × price index in the year ÷ price index 2020.",
    "steps": [
      "Tax: $4,557 ÷ $2,756 − 1 = +65.3%. One year: $4,557 ÷ $4,065 − 1 = +12.1%.",
      "Prices: average of 156.8, 156.9, 156.2, 156.2, 157.3, 158.7, 158.7, 160.6, 160.2, 161.3, 161.3, 160.9 = 158.76. 158.76 ÷ 130.4 − 1 = +21.7%.",
      "$2,756 × 158.76 ÷ 130.4 = $3,355."
    ],
    "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_2026.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."
      },
      {
        "name": "Consumer Price Index, all items, monthly, Victoria",
        "agency": "Statistics Canada",
        "url": "https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1810000401",
        "dataset_url": "https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/2b0c5ebe-c4a6-4a1d-9b4b-c850f9b5c3c4",
        "table": "18-10-0004-01",
        "period": "October 2025 to September 2026",
        "data_published": "2026-10-19",
        "licence": {
          "name": "Open Government Licence - Canada",
          "url": "https://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada"
        },
        "attribution": "Adapted from Statistics Canada, table 18-10-0004-01. 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)",
  "breakdown_title": "The whole bill on the representative house, 2026: who sets each part",
  "breakdown": [
    {
      "label": "City general tax",
      "display_value": "$4,557",
      "period": "2026",
      "detail": "Set by: City of Victoria Council."
    },
    {
      "label": "Parcel taxes",
      "display_value": "$40",
      "period": "2026",
      "detail": "Who sets it is not named in the schedule."
    },
    {
      "label": "User fees",
      "display_value": "$1,250",
      "period": "2026",
      "detail": "Who sets it is not named in the schedule."
    },
    {
      "label": "School tax",
      "display_value": "$1,434",
      "period": "2026",
      "detail": "Set by: Province of B.C."
    },
    {
      "label": "Regional district",
      "display_value": "$295",
      "period": "2026",
      "detail": "Set by: Capital Regional District Board."
    },
    {
      "label": "Hospital district",
      "display_value": "$150",
      "period": "2026",
      "detail": "Set by: Capital Regional Hospital District Board."
    },
    {
      "label": "BC Assessment, Municipal Finance Authority and other",
      "display_value": "$487",
      "period": "2026",
      "detail": "Set by: BC Assessment, the Municipal Finance Authority and others (the schedule does not split them)."
    }
  ],
  "series_note": "The 2026 price point is the 12-month average to September 2026",
  "next_release": {
    "text": "Around January 2027, when Statistics Canada publishes the 2026 annual average price index (estimate)"
  },
  "verified_text": [
    "Schedule 704 2020, row 'Victoria': House Value 884,826, General Municipal 2,756, Total Res Parcel Taxes 40, Total Res User Fees 979, Total Residential Property Taxes and Charges 5,480",
    "Schedule 704 2021, row 'Victoria': House Value 928,811, General Municipal 2,992, Total Res Parcel Taxes 40, Total Res User Fees 983, Total Residential Property Taxes and Charges 5,758",
    "Schedule 704 2022, row 'Victoria': House Value 1,150,024, General Municipal 3,322, Total Res Parcel Taxes 40, Total Res User Fees 1,016, Total Residential Property Taxes and Charges 6,222",
    "Schedule 704 2023, row 'Victoria': House Value 1,230,097, General Municipal 3,458, Total Res Parcel Taxes 40, Total Res User Fees 1,072, Total Residential Property Taxes and Charges 6,478",
    "Schedule 704 2024, row 'Victoria': House Value 1,228,984, General Municipal 3,757, Total Res Parcel Taxes 40, Total Res User Fees 1,123, Total Residential Property Taxes and Charges 6,991",
    "Schedule 704 2025, row 'Victoria': House Value 1,204,449, General Municipal 4,065, Total Res Parcel Taxes 40, Total Res User Fees 1,191, Total Residential Property Taxes and Charges 7,498",
    "Schedule 704 2026, row 'Victoria': House Value 1,223,948, General Municipal 4,557, Total Res Parcel Taxes 40, Total Res User Fees 1,250, Total Residential Property Taxes and Charges 8,213"
  ],
  "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_2026.xlsx",
    "dataset_url": "https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/local-governments/facts-framework/statistics/tax-rates-tax-burden",
    "locator": "Province of B.C. Schedule 704 (Excel), 2026 edition: “Victoria” row, General Municipal tax; earlier editions for 2020 on. Prices: Statistics Canada table 18-10-0005-01 (2020 annual average) and table 18-10-0004-01 (12-month average, October 2025 to September 2026)",
    "reads": "Victoria, General Municipal: 2020 $2,756; 2025 $4,065; 2026 $4,557"
  },
  "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": "2026-11-12T03:55:53Z",
  "data_published": "2026-10-19",
  "attribution": "Adapted from Statistics Canada, table 18-10-0005-01. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product. Adapted from Statistics Canada, table 18-10-0004-01. 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",
  "source_tier": 1,
  "measure_kind": "input",
  "better_measure": null,
  "status_rule": {
    "rule": "One rule for every measure: a change smaller than 5% of the earlier value, or smaller than the agency's own margin of error, is “About the same”; no change is calculated across a marked break in a series; homelessness estimates, prices, staffing and comparison pages are shown for context without a label.",
    "reason": "Shown for context, without a better or worse label.",
    "threshold_percent": 5.0
  },
  "changes": {
    "year": null,
    "five_year": {
      "period": "2020",
      "years": 6,
      "value": 2756,
      "comparable": true,
      "text": "vs 2020: +65.3%"
    }
  },
  "direction": {
    "type": "context",
    "rule": "Outcome measures read Better, Worse or About the same; published government targets read Ahead of, On or Behind target; value-judgement measures read Rising, Falling or Steady in a neutral colour. A change smaller than the agency's own margin of error, or otherwise smaller than 5% of the earlier value, is About the same (or Steady). No change is calculated across a marked break in a series.",
    "row_value": [
      "$4,557",
      "in 2026"
    ],
    "key": "rising",
    "label": "Rising",
    "arrow": "▲",
    "rel": 12.103321033210332,
    "delta": null,
    "vs": "2025",
    "cur": "2026",
    "why": "Taxes pay for services; whether they should rise or fall is a policy choice. The change is 12.1% of the earlier value, at or above the 5% threshold.",
    "change": "12%",
    "one_year": "+12.1%",
    "five": {
      "period": "2020",
      "comparable": true,
      "rel": 65.3,
      "text": "+65.3%",
      "years": 6
    }
  },
  "benchmark": {
    "rung": 5,
    "rung_name": "No target found",
    "as_of": "2026-11-12",
    "items": [
      {
        "kind": "none",
        "label": "No target found",
        "text": "No target or limit for the yearly property tax increase, including any link to inflation, found in Schedule 5 (objectives and policies) of the City’s Five Year Financial Plan Bylaw, 2026, as of November 12, 2026. Its only numeric policy is the cap on the business to residential tax ratio. Who could set one: Victoria City Council.",
        "area": "City of Victoria",
        "source": {
          "title": "Five Year Financial Plan Bylaw, 2026 (No. 26-040), Schedule 5",
          "publisher": "City of Victoria",
          "date": "adopted May 7, 2026",
          "url": "https://www.victoria.ca/media/4520",
          "terms": "https://www.victoria.ca/legal-disclaimer",
          "refresh": "Yearly, with the City budget",
          "licence": "Public document, not under an open licence. Quoted with attribution.",
          "checked": "2026-11-12",
          "key": "fin_plan"
        },
        "documents_checked": null
      }
    ],
    "drawn": [],
    "rule": "Highest rung found is shown; the site never sets a target. Methods, Targets."
  },
  "benchmarks": [],
  "highest_rung": 5,
  "decided_by": [
    {
      "body": "COV",
      "name": "City of Victoria Council",
      "decides": "Adopts the financial plan by bylaw each year, then sets property tax rates by bylaw before May 15.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "cc165",
          "label": "Community Charter, s. 165",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/03026_06#section165"
        },
        {
          "key": "cc197",
          "label": "Community Charter, s. 197",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/03026_07#section197"
        }
      ],
      "last": {
        "text": "Five Year Financial Plan Bylaw, 2026 (No. 26-040) and 2026 tax rates adopted May 7, 2026",
        "label": "Five Year Financial Plan Bylaw, 2026 (No. 26-040) and 2026 tax rates adopted May 7, 2026",
        "url": "https://engage.victoria.ca/2026budget"
      },
      "next": {
        "text": "2027 financial plan, then tax rate bylaw before May 15, 2027",
        "label": "Community Charter, s. 197",
        "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/03026_07#section197"
      }
    },
    {
      "body": "POL",
      "name": "Victoria and Esquimalt Police Board",
      "decides": "Prepares the police budget, which the councils approve as part of the City’s spending.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "pa27",
          "label": "Police Act, s. 27",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96367_01#section27"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": {
        "text": "Provisional budget due to the councils by November 30, 2026 (Police Act, s. 27)",
        "label": "Police Act, s. 27",
        "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96367_01#section27"
      }
    },
    {
      "body": "BC",
      "name": "Province of B.C.",
      "decides": "Levies the school tax and sets its rates.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "sa119",
          "label": "School Act, s. 119",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96412_09#section119"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    },
    {
      "body": "CRD",
      "name": "Capital Regional District Board",
      "decides": "Sends each municipality a requisition for the amount needed for each regional service.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "lga385",
          "label": "Local Government Act, s. 385",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/r15001_11#section385"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    },
    {
      "body": "CRD",
      "name": "Capital Regional Hospital District Board",
      "decides": "Sends each member municipality a requisition for the amount the hospital district needs.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "hda25",
          "label": "Hospital District Act, s. 25",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96202_01#section25"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    },
    {
      "body": "VTC",
      "name": "Victoria Regional Transit Commission",
      "decides": "Prescribes the transit property tax in the regional transit service area.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "bcta15",
          "label": "British Columbia Transit Act, s. 15 (2)",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96038_01#section15"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    },
    {
      "body": "BC",
      "name": "BC Assessment (British Columbia Assessment Authority)",
      "decides": "Sets the rates that fund its operating costs.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "aaa17",
          "label": "Assessment Authority Act, s. 17 (1.1)",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/96021_01#section17"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    }
  ],
  "main_decision_maker": "City of Victoria Council",
  "label_1y": {
    "key": "rising",
    "label": "Rising"
  },
  "label_long": {
    "key": "rising",
    "label": "Rising",
    "years": 6,
    "change": "+65.3%"
  },
  "target_line": {
    "form": 4,
    "text": "No target found",
    "target": null,
    "gap": null,
    "comparison": null,
    "applies_here": false,
    "note": null
  }
}