About PacWest Commercial Real Estate Advisors
PacWest Commercial Real Estate Advisors provides property tax advisory and dispute-resolution services, including property assessment reviews and appeals, property transfer tax disputes, and disputes concerning the allocation of property taxes between landlords and tenants.
Tim Down has more than 38 years of experience in real estate appraisal, assessment valuation, consulting, and property assessment appeals. His experience includes 11 years with BC Assessment, where he served as a Senior Supervisory Appraiser. He subsequently served as Director of Property Tax Services for Western Canada with Colliers International and as Vice President of Property Tax Services with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Vancouver.
Tim held the Accredited Appraiser Canadian Institute designation as a designated member of the Appraisal Institute of Canada from 1988 until he voluntarily resigned from membership in good standing in 2026. This reference is provided solely as part of his professional history and does not represent current membership in, designation by, or affiliation with the Appraisal Institute of Canada.
Tim also held the Certified Assessment Evaluator designation through the International Association of Assessing Officers and was the first professionally accredited assessor in British Columbia to obtain that designation. He is a professional member of the Real Estate Institute of British Columbia and holds the RI designation. He is also a Certified Commercial Investment Member of the CCIM Institute.
Tim is a licensed real estate broker affiliated with a national real estate brokerage and is also licensed as a mortgage broker with a national mortgage brokerage network.
Property Tax Compliance
The BC Assessment Authority routinely mails out information requests to property owners seeking confidential financial information from landlords and property managers. While compliance with property tax information requests is important, the return of this type of information may compromise a property owners future review and/or appeal success.
It is important that all property owners understand the risk of producing sensitive information without the assistance of a property tax compliance specialist.
Property Assessment in British Columbia
All property owners are taxed annually based on the assessed values as determined by the BC Assessment Authority. The BC Assessment Authority produces annual property assessments based on the market value of the real estate as at July 1st in the previous year. Property assessments are determined using standard real estate valuation approaches; direct comparison, cost and income approaches. The BC Assessment Authority also determines the physical condition, reflecting any changes after the valuation date, and the actual use(s) to apply the correct property tax classification(s) for each property as at October 31st in the previous year.
Property owners receive their annual property assessment notices in the first week of January. The property owner has until January 31st to file an appeal with the Property Assessment Review Panel. There is no fee to file an appeal to the Property Assessment Review Panel. A third party may also file an appeal against a property assessment notice. Secondary appeals must be filed with the Property Assessment Appeal Board on or before April 30th with a filing fee of $30.00 for property Classes 1, 3, 8 & 9 per folio appealed and $300.00 for Classes 2, 4, 5, 6 & 7 per folio appealed.
The BC Assessment Authority completes over 2,200,000 Property Assessment Notices for delivery on December 31st with a provincial staff of around 700 personnel. Given this extreme ratio of assessment staff to properties, it is impossible for the BC Assessment Authority to inspect and value individual properties on an annual basis. All mass property assessment valuation systems are subject to human error. A successful appeal can result from a professional, comprehensive review for the following reasons:
-
Assessed value is above market value
-
Incorrect physical inventory
-
Incorrect property classification
-
Eligible exemptions were not applied
-
Assessed value is not fair and equitable in relation to similar, competing property assessment values
-
Property was under construction as at October 31st in the previous year
-
Historic vacancy issues
-
Condition of property or deferred significant maintenance
-
Property is contaminated or negatively impacted by hazardous materials
-
Incorrect land averaging calculations
Contact
PacWest Commercial Real Estate Advisors
Contact us to discuss how we can assist in minimizing your real estate tax expenses
