Property Taxes and Utilities
Property taxes are calculated based on the assessment value of a property (data provided by BC Assessment). Tax rates are set every year by City Council in terms of general municipal taxes, local improvement taxes, parcel taxes and Business Improvement Area levies. Provincial legislation requires the City to collect taxes for services provided by other taxing authorities including Province of BC (School), TransLink, Metro Vancouver, BC Assessment Authority & Municipal Finance Authority.
DUE DATE & PENALTIES
The due date for this year’s property taxes is July 2, 2024. A 5% penalty will be charged to current taxes remaining (including unclaimed Home Owner Grant) on July 3, 2024. A second penalty of 5% will be applied to any unpaid balance on September 4, 2024. These penalties are a requirement of the Community Charter. The City has no authority to either waive or modify these penalty amounts. A payment that is one day late is subject to the full amount of the penalty.
If you have not received your property tax notice, please contact the Revenue and Collections Division at City Hall at 604-527-4550. It is the responsibility of the property owner to pay property taxes, by the due date in order to avoid penalty, whether or not a bill is received. New owners who have not received a property tax notice are advised to contact the Revenue and Collections Division.
Property tax notices and reminder notices
Property tax notice - sent end of May - due date July 2, 2024. 5% penalty on July 3, 2024
1st reminder notice - sent late July - due as soon as possible. 5% second penalty on September 4, 2024
2nd reminder notice - sent late October - due as soon as possible. Any amount unpaid after December 31, 2024 will be transferred to next year's taxes in arrears and is subject to daily interest charges.
Unclaimed grants constitute unpaid current taxes and are subject to penalties.
Tax Mill Rates [PDF] - 38KB
The Property Information Portal allows users to view and print a Property Information Report for properties located in New Westminster. You can search for a property based on the property address, folio number, PID (Parcel Identifier), or by plan number. The report will show the property assessment and tax levy information as well as legal descriptions.
The Home Owner Grant Program is a Provincial Government program designed to help homeowners with their Property Taxes. The Home Owner Grant reduces the amount of Property Taxes home owners pay on their principal residence.
Basic grant is up to $570 and Additional grant is for those 65 years and older is up to $845. The home owner grant threshold for 2024 is $2,150,000. The grant is reduced by $5 for each $1,000 of assessed value over $2,150,000 to a maximum of $2,264,000 for basic grant and $2,319,000 for additional grant.
Home owner grants must be claimed EACH YEAR with the Province of BC. The City of New Westminster no longer accepts retroactive and current year Home Owner Grant applications. If you didn’t apply for Home owner grant last year (2023), you may qualify for a retroactive home owner grant. All Home Owner Grant (Current and Retroactive) applications must be submitted directly to the Province of BC.
For more information please visit the Provincial Government Home Owner Grant Administration website, or contact their office at 1-888-355-2700.
*Please use your folio number listed on your statement in the required roll number field.
The Province’s Property Tax Deferment program provides low-interest loans for qualifying BC homeowners to defer their property taxes until they sell or transfer ownership of their home.
The Province has taken over the administration of this program and municipalities will no longer be collecting any information or application.
All deferment applications, including renewal applications, must be submitted online through the Provincial Tax Deferment Application Portal.
For full details, and to ensure you qualify, please refer to the Province's website, or contact their office at 1-888-355-2700.
Any property with delinquent taxes will be sold at the City’s annual tax sale. The City is obliged to hold the annual tax sale each year. The sale is a public auction with the successful bid being the highest bid above the upset price. The upset price is the total of all outstanding taxes plus penalties, interests and costs.
Notice is required to be given for the list of properties that may be available for tax sale and will be given or published in accordance with section 94 of the Community Charter. The Notice shall be posted to the City’s Public Notice Posting Places and, pursuant to Public Notice Bylaw No. 8417, 2023, via the following additional means of publication:
(a) electronically via Citypage, and email subscription service; and
(b) printed and posted to one or more information boards at the New Westminster Public Library.
At least one of the latter two Notices will be published no less than 3 and no more than 10 days prior to the date of the tax sale
The minimum bid is the amount of the Upset price. If no bidding takes place within three calls by the Collector (auctioneer), the City is declared the purchaser at the Upset price.
The highest bidder at or above the upset price shall be declared the purchaser. The purchaser must pay by certified cheque or bank draft. Bidders will be given until 2pm on October 7, 2024 to secure funds for the balance of the bid price. Upset price to be paid at time of tax sale.
The owner of the property, or any registered charge holder, will be notified of the sale of the property for taxes. They have a period of 12 months to redeem the property by paying the outstanding taxes. Only at the end of the redemption period, if the property has not been redeemed will title pass to the successful bidder. If the property is redeemed, all the amounts paid to the City by the successful bidder will be returned with interest at the rate prescribed under section 11(3) of the Taxation (Rural Area) act.
The successful bidder has only limited legal rights to the property during the redemption period. The registered owner continues to have use and enjoyment of the property.
The successful purchaser of tax sale property results in transfer of title at the end of the redemption period will be required to pay any property purchase taxes and goods and services which may apply to the tax sale.
Tax Sale
Time & Date:
TBDLocation:
City of New Westminster Council Chambers
511 Royal Avenue, New Westminster, BCAll bidders must:
- Pre-register between 8:35am - 9:55am at City Hall.
- Pay $175 non-refundable registration fee by cash or debit payment.
- Only registered bidders will be allowed into designated Council Chambers for the tax sale process. Friends or family of registered bidders are prohibited.
- Registered participants must be the age of majority, 19 or older, to register and will be required to show photo ID showing their legal name and their Social Insurance Number (SIN) when registering.
- Registered bidders must have in their possession certified funds of the upset price at the time of registration.
2024 Water, Sewer, and Solid Waste Rates
The annual flat rate utilities consists of water, sewer and solid waste charges. Utility statement is mailed on late February. To be eligible for the discounted amount, all fees must be paid in full on or May 3, 2024, whether or not you have received a bill. Payments received after this date will not be eligible for the discounted amount.
Senior Waiver Discount
Some homeowners may be qualified for a discounted amount. If you’re a registered owner, 65 years of age or over and living alone (one person only in the single family residence) during the calendar year you are eligible for a Senior waiver discount. The waiver amount will be equal to 25% of the annual water, sewer and solid waste charges for the current year. The amount will be applied to your current flat rate utilities account upon approval of the application.
Single Family Dwelling Gross Discount 5% 2024 Net 2023 Net % Change Water $825.55 $41.28 $784.27 $739.88 6.00% Sewer $1186.78 $59.34 $1127.44 $1043.93 8.00% Solid Waste - 120L $426.55 $21.33 $405.22 $361.81 12.00%
Subtotal $2438.88 $121.94 $2316.94 $2145.62 Single Family Dwelling - Senior Waivers (25%) Gross Senior Discount 25% 2024 Net 2023 Net Water $825.55 $206.39 $619.16 $584.12 6.00% Sewer $1186.78 $296.70 $890.09 $824.15 8.00% Solid Waste - 120 L $426.55 $106.64 $319.91 $285.64 12.00% Subtotal $2438.88 $609.72 $1829.16 $1693.90 Single Family Dwelling - Secondary Suite Gross Discount 5% 2024 Net 2023 Net Water - Single Family $825.55 $41.28 $784.27 $739.88 6.00% Water - Secondary Suite $412.74 $20.64 $392.10 $369.91 6.00% Sewer- Single Family $1186.78 $59.34 $1127.44 $1043.93 8.00% Sewer - Secondary Suite $593.38 $29.67 $563.71 $521.96 8.00% Solid Waste - 240L $650.68 $32.53 $618.15 $551.92 12.00% Subtotal $3669.13 $183.46 $3485.67 $3227.60 Multi-Family Per Living Unit Gross Discount 5% 2024 Net 2023 Net Water - Metered - Cubic Feet Min Charge $68.15 $68.15 $64.29 1-10,000 $6.82 $6.82 $6.43 Next 20,000 $4.96 $4.96 $4.68 Next 20,000 $3.91 $3.91 $3.69 over 50,000 $2.95 $2.95 $2.78 Sewer - Apartment Unit $667.43 $33.37 $634.06 $587.09 Townhouse Unit $927.12 $46.36 $880.76 $815.52 Solid Waste Commercial Rate Food Scraps/Apartment - $40.07 $35.78 Glass levy/Multifamily $11.20 $5.00 Tag-a-Bag/Bag - $5.00 $4.00 Replacement of lost or damaged 120 L container $100.00 $75.00 Replacement of lost or damaged 240 L container $125.00 $100.00 To upsize from a 120 L to 240 L container $40.00 $25.00 To recover a missed collection for a late set out, wrong collection container or incorrectly placed collection container $25.00 $25.00 To qualify for the Pre-Authorized Pre-payment Plan (PAPP), current taxes or water and sewer must be paid in full.
The pre-authorized pre-payment plan is designed to put money towards next year’s Property Taxes and Annual Utilities. The pre-payment plan will accumulate 10 monthly withdrawals from your bank account and apply the funds towards your:
- Annual utilities balance in February (withdrawal starts May 1 to Feb 1)
- Property taxes balance in May (withdrawal starts August 1 to May 1) No payments are taken for June and July.
After the instalment payments are applied, you must pay any difference and claim the Home Owner grant (if eligible) and make the final payment manually by the property tax due date, this payment will not come out of the PAPP. Check the balance on your statement for this final payment amount to avoid penalty.
Download the PAPP form
Terms and conditions apply.Please pay your bill online via one of the following options:
- Online banking, telephone banking and ATMs - Contact your financial institution for further information. From your financial institution’s website, search for 'New Westminster' and select payee with “taxes”. Use the 8-digit folio number on the front of your tax notice as the account number.
Ensure your payment is received on time, allowing for at least 3 business days prior to the due date.
- Credit card - Pay online at newwestcity.ca/egov. Convenience fee applies.
- In person at your financial institution - Ensure your payment is received by the due date.
- Cheques and bank drafts payable to the City of New Westminster - Cheques and bank drafts may be postdated to the tax due date. Incomplete information on cheques will not be processed. Returned payments constitute a non-payment of taxes and will be subject to NSF fee and any applicable penalties or interest.
- In-person at City Hall - Available Monday to Friday, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm.
For electronic payments, allow at least three business days prior to the due date.
- Online banking, telephone banking and ATMs - Contact your financial institution for further information. From your financial institution’s website, search for 'New Westminster' and select payee with “taxes”. Use the 8-digit folio number on the front of your tax notice as the account number.
MyCity is a secure, all-in-one, online service that allows residents and businesses to access information about their City of New Westminster accounts, and register for eBilling. It's easy to use and all information is protected by private access codes.
Use MyCity to:
- Access account information
- View current and past bills
- View account payment history
- Receive your tax notice electronically (eBilling)
Go paperless by signing up at www.newwestcity.ca/mycity