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Sullivan, a partner at Burgess, Cawley, Sullivan and Associates, has calculated that some commercial properties that get hit with these new taxes on their unbuilt residential potential could face higher overall tax bills than if they had never received split assessments.

The speculation tax and the additional school tax have received fairly widespread support, polling from Research Co. has found. Both have been touted by the government as measures to tackle the housing crisis and stabilize the market.

But applying the tax to the air above some mom-and-pop businesses seems to serve a different purpose, said Sullivan. And, he noted, split assessments have been heralded by many as a possible solution to the problem of businesses, particularly in Vancouver, hammered by soaring property taxes.

“Everybody says split assessments are the answer,” Sullivan said.

In an emailed statement Monday, Vancouver’s director of financial services, Melanie Kerr, said: “To further address challenges faced by small businesses, in particular those affected by tax increases arising from development potential, city staff are working with an intergovernmental working group to identify viable solutions such as split assessment.”

Aaron Aerts, a Vancouver-based economist with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said news of the province’s approach to taxing these split-assessment properties “seems to be bad news for small business in B.C. who were looking for help — it may be the exact opposite.”

“This is problematic to me because as the province looks to fix the assessment process, more small businesses may fall into this definition,” Aerts said. “Expanded split assessment is necessary, but if this is how they tax that segment, it could be even worse for some small businesses than the status quo.”

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