Taxpayers Federation calls for St. John’s property tax freeze
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on St. John’s City Council to freeze residential property assessments, arguing homeowners are paying significantly more in property taxes as assessments rise. The federation analyzed City of St. John’s assessment rolls from 2023 through 2027, tracking over 40,000 residential properties that appeared on all five rolls.
The group says 94.1 per cent of those properties saw their assessed value increase, with a typical increase of 10.5 per cent. Combined with a 9.6-per-cent increase in the residential mill rate in 2023, the CTF says 99.6 per cent of the properties are paying more municipal property tax than they did three years ago.
The typical tax bill increased by $450 annually, from $2,134 to $2,601, according to the analysis. Overall, the CTF says the city is collecting about $21.4 million more annually from the properties, a 22-per-cent increase.
“Freeze assessments, hold the mill rate and end the automatic tax hikes,” said Devin Drover, the CTF’s Atlantic director and general counsel.
The group also criticized council for approving recent collective agreements that include wage increases of roughly 13 per cent over four years.
Council held the residential mill rate at 9.1 in its 2026 budget, saying the decision was largely possible because of rising property values.
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