Tax Rates

Tax Rates

Tax rates determine how much property tax you pay, based on the assessed value of your property. The 2023 tax rates (see Documents, below) apply to each $1,000 of assessed value of your BC Assessment property assessment.

Council sets the tax rates after it adopts the annual budget each year, because the budget sets out how much total tax revenue is needed. 

Comparing Municipal Taxes

Tax rates only tell part of the story. Understanding average municipal tax rates and amounts in comparison to other municipalities is difficult as they are not all the same and not always an “apples to apples” comparison. Not only does each municipality offer different services and fund programs in different ways, but municipalities vary in terms of population, geography, infrastructure and property types (business, farm, residential, etc.). In Central Saanich, for example, more than 60% of our land is agricultural.  The value of the “average home” also varies greatly in different parts of the Province. These are just some of the factors that impact tax rates.

Simplified comparisons of tax rates might look at residential taxes only, and does not consider the balance with other tax classes such as business, light industry and agriculture which range depending on the municipality you live in.

Based on 2022 total property taxes paid on an average home, of the 163 BC municipalities, Central Saanich ranks at 138 of the 163, and at 9 of the 13 municipalities within the CRD. Central Saanich also has the lowest light industry and business tax rates in the CRD, and are well below the median for the Province. (Information from Province of BC, 2022 Local Government Statistics)

Services Central Saanich provides with tax dollars: 

  • Parks & trails maintenance
  • Road maintenance, repair and snow removal
  • Policing 
  • Fire protection
  • Sidewalks, curbs, and gutters
  • Drainage systems
  • Animal control
  • Land use planning
  • Bylaw enforcement
  • Heritage planning

Services Central Saanich tax dollars contribute to: 

  • Peninsula sewage treatment
  • Affordable housing
  • Regional parks, such as Island View and Elk-Beaver Lake
  • Regional Trails, such as Galloping Goose
  • CREST, 9-1-1 police and fire dispatch
  • Panorama Recreation Centre
  • Greater Victoria Regional Library
  • CRD Recycling Program
  • BC Transit
  • Education