Property assessments falling in 16 New Brunswick communities

Hundreds of thousands ofproperty tax bills are being mailed out across New Brunswick this week and with depressed real estate markets in many communities, a lot of homeowners will be getting something many have never seen before a tax cut.

In the town of St. Stephen most property owners will be informed of a drop in their assessment this week of between one per cent and two per cent, according to the open data website propertize.ca.

It's a decline that has reducedthe's town budget by more than $140,000 in property tax revenue.

"Some things on the wish list we've scaled back on," said Mayor John Quartermain, who acknowledges property values in his community have been under pressure.

"We've had a lot of seniors who have moved and sometimes they move before they sell their house so that's a lot of the assessments being lowered."

A survey of 500 properties in the centre of St. Stephen by CBC News using data compiled by propertize.ca shows 369 have had their assessments reducedthis year compared to just 17 who have seenan increase. Meanwhile, 114 homes have seen no change.

Quartermain said the town decided to restrain spending rather than raise taxes to deal with the shortfall.

"We tightened our belts," he said.

Across New Brunswick, the Department of Environment and Local Government said 15 communities in addition to St. Stephen have seen their tax base shrink this year including Sussex, New Maryland Campbellton and Oromocto.