Andy Ross, an 80-year-old homeowner living on a fixed income in Youbou on Vancouver Island, has been charged $1,930 by BC Assessment just to access records related to his own property assessment appeal.
On April 1, 2025, Ross submitted three Freedom of Information requests to BCA seeking internal policy records that directly shaped the outcome of his case.
Ross said that, rather than treat him as a private citizen requesting records about his own home, BCA escalated the matter to legal counsel and labelled him a 鈥渃ommercial applicant鈥�, which is a designation typically reserved for corporations.
That label enabled the agency to bypass cost protections offered to individuals under B.C.鈥檚 FOI laws and demand nearly $2,000 in fees.
Ross sent a fee-waiver request to BCA in early May stating that he is not a commercial applicant.
鈥淚 am not a consultant, business or media outlet,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 am an 80-year-old homeowner living with my 82-year-old wife in the same house we built after buying our land for $29,000 in 1978. We have lived here for over 47 years. We survive on a fixed income from CPP and Old Age Security, with an annual income below the poverty line in B.C., and we have no rental or investment income.鈥�
Ross and wife live on a lakefront property in Youbou in a house that has been assessed by BCA at $2.34 million, and he has appealed the assessment in 2023 and again in 2024.
Many waterfront property owners in the area felt that their properties were vastly overestimated by BCA, and Ross was one of 25 who formed the Youbou Appeal Group to collectively appeal the excess amounts they are being charged over what should be their fair share of property taxes due to their assessments.
After a lengthy and complicated process, the appeal board agreed to reduce assessments for 22 of the 25 of the properties, but Ross鈥檚 property was not one of them.
In his fee-waiver request, Ross said that in both his appeals in 2023 and 2024, BCA submitted evidence to the Property Assessment Appeal Board, the second level of appeal for property assessments in B.C., that explicitly waived compliance with the standards of appraisal services in Canada, citing 鈥渏urisdictional exception鈥�.
鈥淭he waiver was not disclosed upfront to me, but was discovered in the written submissions,鈥� Ross said.
鈥淚 believe this raises serious concerns about transparency, procedural fairness and professional ethics.鈥�
Jason Anson, a licensed real estate professional and expert witness for the Youbou Appeal Group, said he thinks it鈥檚 outrageous that BCA would treat an 80-year-old homeowner as a commercial entity and immediately escalate his request to their corporate legal counsel, and then charge him almost $2,000 for the information.
鈥淗ow is someone on a fixed income supposed to navigate a legal gauntlet just to find out why BCA鈥檚 assessors quietly waived their professional Appraisal Institute of Canada standards in his appeals?鈥� he asked.
鈥淭hat is not transparency. If public-body employees can sidestep professional and ethical obligations and then hide behind legal teams when questioned, we have a serious problem with accountability in this province.鈥�
BCA said in a statement that as a Crown corporation, BCA complies with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) throughout the entire FOI process.
"FIPPA includes both Section 75, which is permission to charge a fee for certain services related to FOI requests, and Section 75(5), which is permission for FOI applicants to request a fee waiver," BCA said.
"Although BCA does not comment on individual requests, we can ensure compliance with legislative processes."
