The Saint John street New Brunswick assessors forgot. Or did they?

An extension built onto the end of Sea Street in Saint John a decade ago has panoramic views of the Bay of Fundy. Lately, it has been one of the hottest residential development spots in the city.

Every available lot on the street in 2021 sold at prices above assessed value. In the past year, 11 new high-end homes have either been built there or are now under construction.

Normally that would affect the value of nearby houses. But in a quirk that New Brunswick's assessment agency Service New Brunswick won't explain, seven ocean-view homes on Sea Street built or bought prior to the current development spree have gone untouched by any assessment changes in the last three years.

It is unclear if that is deliberate or whether the houses got lost in Service New Brunswick's appraisal system.

Jennifer Vienneau, the agency's communications director, says whatever the reason, it cannot be disclosed.

"Due to confidentiality, we are unable to discuss the details of individual properties," she wrote in an email to CBC News

Following record real estate prices and sales all over New Brunswick for the last two years, frozen assessments on homes valued at $200,000 and above are almost unheard of in the province. There are none in either Moncton or Fredericton for 2023.

But there are still dozens in Saint John.

Thirteen garden homes at the corner of Manawagonish Road and Manchester Avenue on the city's west side are all receiving no assessment increases for 2023.

But hundreds of houses around them in the Saint John neighbourhoods of Greendale and Quinton Heights are getting increases of 20 per cent and above and a 14th and 15th garden home in the same cluster sold in July for prices that averaged $106,000 over their 2022 assessed values.

Assessments for 2023 on those two garden homes are still under review.

Stories like that concern Morgan Lanigan. He wonders if they are anomalies or a sign of problems with how Saint John properties are valued generally by Service New Brunswick.

"Record real estate prices have hit Saint John just as much as they've hit any other city," said Lanigan.

"So. it's hard to believe that we have had a larger proportion that didn't see any increase. If you ask anybody who's been looking for real estate, it's been next to impossible to find anything, so I find it very surprising."

Lanigan is a longtime Saint John community leader with organizations like One Change in the north end and Uptown Saint John.

He has become concerned growth and financial prosperity in the city isn't being reflected properly in the tax base. He fears that is restricting revenue growth to the city and causing some to pay too much tax to fund services and others to pay too little.

He's been battling with Service New Brunswick for the past year trying to get it to disclose more information about how it works.

"I feel it's kind of my duty to look into these things and see what I can find," said Lanigan. "I'm happy to do it."

According to New Brunswick's Department of Environment and Local Government, Saint John's tax base in 2023 will grow 8.76 per cent.  That's nearly two percentage points below the provincial average and ranks 23rd among New Brunswick municipalities.

That might be surprising to many residents because data from Service New Brunswick shows 9,879 properties in Saint John, mostly houses, are receiving assessment increases of 20 per cent or above for 2023.  

That's 10 times the number of properties in Fredericton that have increases that high.

Nevertheless, growth in Saint John's tax base will be lower than Fredericton in 2023 because it is weighed down by large numbers of other properties that have been assigned little or no assessment increases

A small part of that is houses getting missed or passed over by assessors.  A bigger problem, according to Saint John councillor David Hickey, is a lack of assessment growth being detected by Service New Brunswick in larger commercial and industrial properties in the city, particularly in a year when industry has been booming..

"You're seeing residents pick up the tab for corporate assessments that are not increasing," said Hickey.

"I cannot understand how we can have a provincial assessment program that comes to these conclusions. I'd like an explanation as to why."

Last week, new figures showed New Brunswick petroleum, wood, food and other manufacturers shipped $2.3 billion worth of products in August.

It was an all-time high for New Brunswick for any August by more than $400 million. It helped push manufacturing sales for the most recent 12 months in the province to a record-shattering $25.8 billion.

But Hickey said nothing hints at that level of prosperity in property assessments for companies headquartered in Saint John from Service New Brunswick for 2023.

New Brunswick's largest manufacturer, Irving Oil Ltd, was given a 2.5 per cent valuation increase on its main refinery property for 2023, less than half the rate of inflation.

In addition, both Irving Oil's 11-storey head office building and its former head office, the Golden Ball building, received notices from Service New Brunswick of no assessment increases at all for 2023, the third year in a row for both structures.

Other major manufacturers having successful years, including J.D. Irving Ltd and Cooke Aquaculture Inc., are also receiving no increases on their Saint John head office buildings. Instead, each is to be valued for taxes in 2023 at the same amount they were in 2019.

In total, 15 office buildings in Saint John assessed in 2022 for $2 million or more are receiving no increases for 2023 from Service New Brunswick. That compares to one office building in Moncton on Weldon Street and none in Fredericton.

Hickey said he finds it hard to believe values on larger properties in Saint John can be that stagnant and, like Lanigan, wants more information about how Service New Brunswick sets values in the city.

"These are increases that I cannot wrap my head around," he said.

Although the agency has declined to openly explain itself on specific assessments, Vienneau said valuations are fairly done and not skewed in anyone's favour.

"Service New Brunswick assessors are unbiased, highly qualified professionals, and comply with industry standards," wrote Vienneau.