Dogwood Express Newsletter |
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January 5, 2024: Issue 60 |
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In This Issue:
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Purchase Deadline Feb 9th - 2024/25 Super Camping/Select Lodging Guide
- Carefully Review Your Property Assessment Notice - You have until January 31, 2024 to Dispute or Appeal
- Campspot White Paper Examining the Camping/Hotel Crossover
- Employee or Independent Contractor per the Employment Standards Act
- BCLCA Welcomes New Member
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Dear BCLCA Member:
As we welcome in a New Year, it’s time to check your online listing on our consumer website www.travel-british-columbia.com. Over the past several months staff have been updating photos and the listing information to better reflect your business. You will notice that consumers can search by your name, city, and key amenities. As well, they can toggle between a listing view and a map view.
Here are the main listing categories:
If you notice errors or omissions or want changes, please contact Anne via email at [email protected] and edits can be made.
This month we have our first member video Parking Lot engagement session on Thursday, January 25th at 9:00 am. Members will gather via video to chat with the board and fellow operators to hear the extended stay survey results and next steps planned. There is NO FEE to attend but registration is required.
To register for the FREE Parking Lot series, you can pick the ones you plan to attend. Please click here.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Confirmed Dates and Topics for Parking Lot Series Meetings:
- Thursday, January 25 at 9:00 am – Extended Stay Survey Results and Next Steps
- Thursday, February 22 at 9:00 am – Setting Rates 2.0
- Thursday, March 28 at 9:00 am – To be announced.
- Thursday, April 25 at 9:00 am – To be announced.
- Thursday, May 23 at 9:00 am – To be announced.
Hope you can join us for one or more of the sessions.
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PURCHASE DEADLINE FEB 9th - 2024/25 SUPER CAMPING/SELECT LODGING GUIDE
The BCLCA will be publishing the Super Camping/Select Lodging guide for the 2024/25 season, published continuously since 1989. 80,000 copies will be printed by Mitchell Press in May 2024 along with the publication of an online SCBC flipbook version accessible (14,053 visitors over the past year) from the travel website.
The guide also has a companion mobile SCBC App for Android and Apple mobile device users (20,000 users and growing). Members that purchase a listing in the print guide are listed on the App, and as members list for the upcoming 2024/25 guide they will be added. Note the Super Camping App listings carry more information than the guide listings and link to your website.
The 80,000 print guides will be distributed at Visitor Info Centres in BC and Alberta, BCLCA Members, RV Rental Agencies, BC Parks, BC Ferries, Consumer Shows and Government Agencies.
The 2024/25 guide has a choice of two different listings, basic and enhanced, both formats include a photo. All properties who purchase a listing are also located by number on the pull-out map which is cross-referenced with their listing in the guide and promoted on the Super Camping App.
If you are interested in being listed in the 2024/25 guide, please email [email protected] or call 778-383-1037. Purchase deadline February 9, 2024.
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CAREFULLY REVIEW YOUR PROPERTY ASSESSMENT NOTICE - YOU HAVE UNTIL JANUARY 31, 2024 TO DISPUTE OR APPEAL
By now you should have, or will shortly, receive your property assessment notice from BC Assessment.
Assessment and Taxation
It is important to understand that property assessment and taxation is a two-part process.
The first is the assessment of the market value of your property on July 1, 2023, which is determined by BC Assessment operating under the Assessment Act and includes classifying the property by use.
Secondly, once BC Assessment has determined the market value and classification the local property taxes or (mill) rates are applied to the valuation; and these are set by the local taxing authorities or in rural areas the provincial government and are due around July 2024. The tax amounts are communicated later in the year.
Your property assessment determines your share of taxes. Your relative share of taxes is determined by the market value placed on your property in relation to the total value of all properties in your property classification. This is why it is so important to make sure your assessment accurately reflects the market value of your property and correct classification(s) so that your property taxes will reflect your fair share of the tax burden.
Property taxes generally increase for three reasons, however changes in classification or exemption status can also affect the value of property and subsequent taxes:
- The tax authority raises the property tax rate to raise more revenue; or
- Improvements increase the property’s value; or
- Improvements raise the value of a property in relation to most other properties in the jurisdiction.
Review Your Assessment
The assessment notice shows the market value of the land and improvements as estimated at July 1, 2023. It also lists the property classification, as well as any exemptions that may apply such as the Tourist Accommodation Assessment Relief Act (TAARA).
Assessment Search is a convenient way to compare your property with other properties in your area. Assessment Search is a free service that enables property owners to check the fairness of their assessed value with similar properties in their neighbourhood. Property owners can also compare their assessed value with the selling price of properties with similar characteristics.
Discuss Your Concerns
If you decide that your assessment value or classification is wrong the first step is to contact the local BC Assessment Office to discuss your concerns.
An appraiser will be pleased to:
- discuss your property file;
- explain how the market value was determined; and
- refer you to sales of similar properties in your neighbourhood.
If you and the appraiser agree there is an error, the assessment can be corrected without an independent review.
Request A Review
If your concerns are not satisfied, you may request an independent review by the Property Assessment Review Panel (i.e., you may file an appeal). To request a review, you must submit your written request to your local BC Assessment office no later than January 31. A request for a review is referred to as a Notice of Complaint.
Property Assessment Review Panels have the authority to investigate and adjudicate property assessments. Their purpose is to ensure that property assessments reflect actual (market) value. They also ensure that assessments are applied consistently within a municipality or rural area (equity). For more information on the process i.e. preparing for a hearing; appearing at a hearing and panel decisions visit the PARP website.
Professional Assistance
For complicated valuation arguments there are appraisal and legal companies that specialize in assisting businesses with commercial property assessment appeals. Here is a list of companies that BCLCA members report utilizing over the past number of years:
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CAMPSPOT WHITE PAPER EXAMINING THE CAMPING/HOTEL CROSSOVER
The paper authored by Michael Scheinman, CEO and Megan Winfield, CTO at Campspot takes an interesting look at hotel best practices such as customers, revenue management and operations, to answer if the practices are transferrable to campgrounds.
The eleven page white paper provides:
- 5 Reasons campgrounds increasingly consider hotel best practices;
- The key difference between campgrounds and hotels;
- 5 things campgrounds can apply from hotel industry learnings;
- And the authors conclusions.
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EMPLOYEE OR INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR PER THE EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS ACT
The Employment Standards Act (the Act) applies to employees, regardless of whether they are employed on a part-time, full-time, temporary or permanent basis. The Act does not apply to independent contractors. A person who is an independent contractor is considered to be self-employed; that is, in business for themselves.
Calling a person an independent contractor, even if the worker agrees, does not decide the issue. This is because the requirements of the Act are minimum requirements and any agreement that tries to waive the requirements of the Act is not valid.
The Act is intended to protect as many workers as possible. When deciding if a worker is an employee or an independent contractor, one of the main questions to ask is “Whose business is it?”
The courts have developed some common law tests that may be useful, but they must be considered in a manner consistent with the definitions and purposes of the Act.
Some of these tests include how much direction and control the worker is subject to, whether the worker operates their own business and has their own clients, whether the worker has a chance of profit or a risk of loss, whether the work they are doing is integral to the business and whether there is an ongoing relationship.
The longer a person works for another, the more closely the worker’s duties are connected to the purpose of the business, the more the person who pays the worker controls the material and tools and directs the activities, the more likely it is that the relationship is one of employer/employee.
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BCLCA WELCOMES NEW ACTIVE MEMBER
New Active Member
Gibsons Creek Resort – Opening 2025, Gibsons
Mingyu Liu
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BC LODGING & CAMPGROUNDS ASSOCIATION
209, 3003 St. Johns Street, Port Moody BC V3H 2C4
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