PGA Tour Americas to Tee Off at Mactaquac

PGA Tour Americas will be making a tournament stop at Mactaquac Provincial Park in July of 2024. It is one of two new stops added to the tour, with the other one being in Brazil.

“The Mactaquac golf course has been getting attention on the national scale, and now it will be a destination for golfers across the globe,” said Tourism, Heritage and Culture Minister Tammy Scott-Wallace. “Hosting events of this calibre showcases New Brunswick as a vacation and sport destination and boosts our economy and supports our industry partners.”

The PGA announced in the spring that PGA Tour Latinoamerica and PGA Tour Canada would merge to form PGA Tour Americas.

“Golf New Brunswick is excited to collaborate with the City of Fredericton, New Brunswick Tourism and Mactaquac,” said Brianna McQuillan, executive director of Golf New Brunswick. “We believe this is an amazing opportunity to develop golf further in New Brunswick. We look forward to involving our members and junior golfers for an experience like no other.”

“The Fredericton capital region is chock full of super golfing opportunities. And Mactaquac is one of our best courses,” said Fredericton Capital Region Tourism manager Stacey Russell. “Showcasing it on PGA Tour Americas will build awareness and shine a light on our spectacular, beautiful region.”

Legislation Introduced to Cover More Properties with Permanent Spike Protection Mechanism

The provincial government has introduced legislation that, if passed, would expand a permanent spike protection mechanism and help protect more property owners from property tax increases due to rising assessments. Beginning in the 2025 taxation year, annual property assessment increases would be limited to 10 per cent on all eligible properties. Recently sold properties and those with new construction or major improvements would be excluded.

“Since 2020, New Brunswick has experienced unprecedented population growth and an active real estate market,” said Service New Brunswick Minister Mary Wilson. “These factors are putting strain on property owners who continue to see significant rises in their property’s assessed values and, in some cases, provincial and local taxes. Property owners have asked for more permanent protection against annual property assessment increases, and we have listened.”

The total value of property assessments in the province for 2024 is $89.4 billion, an increase of 10.4 per cent, or $8.4 billion, over the previous year.

A permanent spike protection mechanism is already in place for eligible owner-occupied residential properties with an assessment increase greater than 10 per cent. This was implemented in 2013 to protect those homeowners from significant spikes in their assessment. It excludes properties with new construction or major improvements, those that have been recently sold, and vacant land.

A temporary property tax relief program for non-residential properties and apartment buildings with four units or more, with annual assessment increases greater than 10 per cent, was available for the 2022 and 2023 taxation years.

As indicated in the housing strategy released in June, the temporary property tax relief program has been extended for the 2024 taxation year to all properties and applies only to the provincial portion of taxes. Like the current spike protection mechanism and the earlier temporary relief program, new construction, recent sales and major improvements are excluded. The temporary property tax relief will be available in March as property tax notices are mailed on March 1.

“We want New Brunswick to continue to be one of the most affordable places to live in Canada,” said Finance and Treasury Board Minister Ernie Steeves. “By limiting assessment increases to 10 per cent on eligible properties, we hope to ease, at least in part, some financial pressure many have been experiencing.”

Property assessment notices for 2024 will be mailed Jan. 15. Property owners will have 30 days from the day their notice is sent to request a review of their property’s value.

Proposed Property Tax Rate Reduction to Benefit Facilities Providing Senior Care

Legislation introduced yesterday aims to ensure eligible properties providing housing to seniors, such as nursing homes and special care homes, are subject to a lower provincial property tax rate for the 2024 and subsequent taxation years.

Under proposed amendments to the Real Property Tax Act, these properties would be considered non-owner-occupied residential properties, and subject to a property tax rate of $0.5617 per $100 of assessment, much like apartments and residential rental properties.

“This will provide cost relief to a sector that provides housing for residents, including some of our most vulnerable populations,” said Finance and Treasury Board Minister Ernie Steeves.

Under the current tax system, these properties are considered “other residential” property and were subject to a provincial property tax rate of $1.0345 per $100 of assessment.

If passed, the changes would provide about $6 million in property tax relief annually to more than 700 properties.

The 2022-23 budget included a three-year, phased-in reduction of property tax rates, beginning with the 2022 taxation year; these were accelerated last fall to be fully implemented for the 2023 taxation year.

As a result of the phased-in reductions, the provincial property tax rate for non-owner-occupied residential properties – which includes apartments and residential rental properties – has been lowered by 50 per cent since 2021. The rates for other residential and non-residential properties have been reduced by 15 per cent. The full phase-in of these reductions has provided about $121 million in tax relief to property owners.