VANCOUVER— On June 4, owners of multimillion-dollar Vancouver homes gave David Eby, their MLA, an earful — again — about a property tax increase they will have to pay. It’s one of several new taxes the NDP introduced in an effort to rein in British Columbia’s overheated real estate market.

But despite intense opposition to the tax increase on Vancouver’s Westside, a new poll suggests that a majority of British Columbians continue to support the new measures, especially policies targeted towards foreign buyers.

Mario Canseco, president of Research Co., has seen support for real estate speculation taxes remain high through polls conducted in February, April and now May. He wanted to see if recent protests against the school tax increase had “moved the needle.”

“The reality is, it hasn’t really happened,” Canseco said.

In an online survey of 800 British Columbians, Research Co. found 67 per cent of respondents support the 0.2 per cent school tax increase on property valued over $3 million, or 0.4 per cent for the value over $4 million.

The NDP also introduced a “speculation” tax of 2 per cent of a home’s assessed value for vacant homes, which owners can avoid paying if they rent the property out. The poll found that 62 per cent of respondents thought that tax was a good idea.

Three quarters of British Columbians (76 per cent) say they support the B.C. government’s decision to expand the foreign buyers tax to regions outside of Metro Vancouver, while 80 per cent support increasing the tax from 15 to 20 per cent.

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The B.C. Liberals oppose the increased tax on homes over $3 million, but the opposition party has tabled a new anti-speculation proposal of its own, suggesting the province tax capital gains on pre-sale condo flips.

That idea also saw wide support among poll respondents, with 65 per cent saying they thought it was a good idea.

Tom Davidoff, an economics professor at the University of British Columbia, recently did his own, admittedly “unscientific” Twitter poll on the issue. Just over 400 people took part in the survey, which asked respondents whether they owned an over-$3 million house, and supported or opposed the new tax.

Four hundred and eight people took Davidoff’s Twitter poll; 17 per cent owned homes over $3 million, while 83 per cent said they did not own a home worth over $3 million. Of the respondents who said they owned an over-$3 million home, 65 per cent said they supported the tax, while 35 per cent were opposed. Of the respondents who didn’t own a home over $3 million, 78 per cent supported the tax, while 21 per cent were opposed.

Davidoff, who suggested a form of the 2 per cent speculation tax the NDP ended up adopting, has become a lightning rod for opponents of the school tax: his name has appeared on protest signs and people affected by the tax started a letter-writing campaign to his employer, the University of British Columbia.

Some of those letter-writers came to vote at the Non-Partisan Association’s June 3 mayoral nomination meeting: Nancy and Paul Little said they had lived in the same house since 1963 and weren’t yet affected by the tax increase, but feared they would be in the future. While homeowners over age 55 can defer their taxes until the final sale of the house, many have said they would view deferring as going into debt.

“We’re not going to have that tax, said Nancy Little. “We’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Paul Sullivan, a principal of appraisal firm Burgess Cawley Sullivan, said he was alarmed at the NDP’s many new taxes on real estate. He said he was voting for a mayoral candidate who would provide some opposition to the provincial government.

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“It’s too many promises, too much spending, too much taxation,” Sullivan said. “It’s been proven time and again they’re going to kill the economy.”

Ken Sim, the candidate who won Sunday’s vote, said he was “saddened and kind of disgusted when I hear people can’t afford to rent in this city.

“But it’s also disgusting when people are being forced out of their homes, having lived in their homes for 20, or 30 or 40 of 50 years because they can’t afford the property taxes.”

Correction - June 6, 2018: This article was edited from a previous version that inaccurately described the results of Tom Davidoff’s Twitter poll. The previous version mistakenly said 11 per cent of respondents who own a $3-million home supported the tax, while 65 per cent of people who didn’t own a $3-million house supported the tax.

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