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| Thursday, January 17, 2013
| Thursday,set January 17, 2013 Kodiaks record, record, 10Kodiaks straightset wins! 10 straight wins! PAGE 10
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Nicole Splits Defence to Score
Property values up in Township By DAN FERGUSON Aldergrove Star
HARRY HUNT PHOTO
High school basketball is back in full swing. D.W. Poppy Secondary’s Nicole Bolton #12 pushes her way through Langley Fundamental’s defenders Natalie Weme #2 and Esther Punzalan #7 in junior girls’ basketball, Thursday, Jan. 10 at D.W. Poppy’s gym. The hosts narrowly defeated the visitors, 18-17. More basketball and sports, page 10.
Stabbed man in serious condition Aldergrove Star
A 55-year-old Aldergrove man who was brutally stabbed and found bleeding in the 27000-block of Fraser Highway on Sunday is clinging to life. Langley RCMP are working diligently to identify a suspect or suspects involved in the attack and are asking the public for help. The victim was known to move about the Aldergrove area on a white mountain
bike, said Langley RCMP spokesperson Const. Craig van Herk. If you have seen anyone riding a white bike in the Aldergrove area last weekend or have information about anyone he was seen with or about the crime contact police, said van Herk. “It’s a pretty distinctive bike so we are hoping someone saw him,” said van Herk. Langley’s serious crime units and general duty officers are working hard and
walking downtown Aldergrove trying to find suspects. “This is not gang-related. It doesn’t appear to be tied to any sort of gang activity. It’s a fairly complex investigation and it is hard to know at this time what the motive was,” he said. If you have any information call Langley RCMP at 604-532-3200 or if you wish to remain anonymous call Crimstoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
Assessed property values in the City of Langley have fallen slightly compared to the previous year while Langley Township values were up or unchanged. The just-issued 2013 B.C. assessment notices show the average value of a single family home in the City is now $461,000, a .86 per cent drop from $465,000 in 2012. In the Township, an average single family home is now worth $519,000, a 0.78 per cent increase from the $515,000 average of the previous year. Condominiums lost value in the City, with the average strata apartments going from $206,000 to $197,000, a 4.3 per cent drop. The average Langley City townhouse fell from $206,000 to $198,000, a drop of 3.8 per cent. It was a different story in Langley Township, where the average strata apartments assessed value was unchanged from the previous year at 191,000. The average Langley Township Townhouse rose from $217,000 to $220,000, an increase of 1.3 per cent. There were ups and down in other regions of the province, too. Drops of as much as five per cent and gains of up to 10 per cent for single detached houses were experienced in Surrey, Burnaby and the Tri-Cities. Drops as big as 10 per cent were recorded in White Rock and significant decreases were seen in Whistler, Pemberton, the Sunshine Coast and Bowen Island. “For the first time in many years a significant number of properties in the region are actually decreasing in value,” assessor Jason Gratl said of Vancouver Sea-to-Sky region changes. Many homes on Vancouver’s west side and in Richmond are also down slightly, after gains of as much as 30 per cent a year earlier. Strata condos and townhomes in Metro Vancouver were susceptible to wider swings, with drops of as much as 10 per cent and gains of 10 per cent typical. But most Fraser Valley home owners are seeing minimal changes, according to assessors. The numbers vary considerably depending on neighbourhoods, property type, age and other localized factors. Assessments are considered a snapshot of the property value as of July 1, 2012, which pre-dates some of the recent decline in Lower Mainland real estate markets. The property assessments were mailed out last week. Owners can also check their assessments online at bcassessment.ca (click on e-ValueBC) and compare with others in their neighbourhood to decide if they want to file an appeal by Jan. 31. Appeal requests go to independent property assessment review panels that convene in February. Changes in the property tax payable depends on the actual tax rates to be set by each local municipality, so a home that’s assessed five per cent higher might not pay any more in tax if the average assessment in the city rose 10 per cent and the local council sets its rate to generate a smaller tax revenue increase. The total assessed value of real estate in B.C. rose 2.3 per cent from a year ago. Most cities are seeing gains of around 1.5 per cent in their assessment rolls from new construction, expanding their tax base. -with files from Jeff Nagel, Black Press
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