• A 5% penalty will be added to 2012 current property taxes outstanding after July 3, 2012.
• A further 5% penalty will be applied after August 15th, 2012.

After the first due date of July 3, 2012, a penalty of 5% is added to the current outstanding taxes. Another 5% penalty is added after the second penalty date of August 15, 2012. These penalties are a requirement of the Local Government Act. The City has no authority to either waive or modify these penalty amounts. A payment that is one day late is subject to the same penalty as a payment of taxes 6 months after the due date. It is a requirement of the Local Government Act that these penalties be added.

If Your Property Taxes Are Paid by a Mortage Company/Financial Institution

• It is the sole responsibility of the property owner to complete the Homeowner Grant application every year (if eligible). You must submit your application to the Tax Office in person, online or by mail by the due date in order to avoid penalties.
• Your mortgage company is advised of property taxes payable only and not any unpaid water and sewer levies for the current year.

Why have my property taxes increased?
The following factors may affect the amount of your tax bill:

• Increase in the Tax Rate
• Change in Assessment Values
• Increase in Taxable Value
• New or increased Utility charges
• New Local Improvement charges
• Changes in Home Owner Grant status 

To find out more about the issues affecting the 2012-2016 Financial Plan and this year's tax bill, click here.

Below is the average Property tax per household in Port Coquitlam:

The Relationship Between Property Assessment and Municipal Property Taxes
Municipal governments use property assessments to determine what tax rate they must set to raise the revenue needed to pay for public services, such as police and fire protection, parks and recreation, road improvements and new infrastructure. Property assessment and taxation is two-part process:

• First, BC Assessment determines the market value of properties and send property owners a Property Assessment Notice. If you are a property owner, you should have received this notice earlier this year.
• Second, tax authorities, like municipal government, set tax rates that are applied to the assessed value and property owners a Tax Notice.

Given the relationship between property assessment and municipal property taxes, many property owners believe that a high property assessment increase means high increases in property taxes. This is not necessarily the case. If the City's operating budget is $100 million, for example, it will be $100 million whether the average residential property is worth $200,000 or $400,000. The value of the properties does not determine the costs of the City's programs and services.

What does affect your property tax rate, however, is your property's assessed value in relation to the average assessed value. The average residential assessment in Port Coquitlam increased by 2.66% in 2012. If your assessment changed by more or less than the average assessed property value, your property taxes will have changed proportionately. So, for an assessment increase of 15% you would add the average residential property tax increase of 2.97% minus the average property tax assessment increase of 2.66%.  This would result in a property tax increase of approximately 5.31%.

For more information on this subject, view the answers to Frequently Asked Questions regarding Property Taxation.

For more information, contact:
Port Coquitlam Tax Office
Tel  604.927.5425
Fax  604.927.5401
Email  taxes@portcoquitlam.ca

Location and Mailing Address
City Hall, First Floor
2580 Shaughnessy Street
Port Coquitlam BC  V3C 2A8 

Business Hours
8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday to Friday (excluding statutory holidays)