Sydney non-profit loses bid to slash assessed value of downtown building
New Dawn hoped to cut its property taxes, but utility and review board denied assessment appeal
A social enterprise agency is going to have to pay its full property taxes after losing an appeal of the assessed value of its main building in downtown Sydney, N.S.
New Dawn Enterprises had asked the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board to base its assessment on its ability to pay, which would have cut its property tax bill by more than half.
The agency bought a former high school and an old convent in downtown Sydney for $250,000, invested about $17 million in the property, with about $10 million of that coming from the provincial and federal governments. It then rented out space to artists and other non-profit agencies.
At first, its assessed value was about $500,000 and the annual tax bill was about $25,000.
But after renovations were completed, the assessment shot up in 2020 to $3.8 million. In 2022, the year under appeal, the assessed value was set at $4.85 million, generating a tax bill from Cape Breton Regional Municipality of around $250,000.
The utility and review board heard the appeal in July, but ruled this week that New Dawn’s assessment will not change. …[Continue Reading]