The Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities (NSFM) has partnered with the Nova Scotia Association of REALTORS® (NSAR), Investment Property Owners Association of Nova Scotia (IPOANS), and the Association of Municipal Administrators of Nova Scotia (AMANS) to create a visual tool to aid in the understanding of the Capped Assessment Program (CAP).

Newly-elected NSFM President Emily Lutz spoke about the CAP Map at NSFM's Annual General Meeting today: "Every Nova Scotian is now able to access an online interactive map that will let them see what kind of effect the CAP has on them. The CAP is a regressive tax policy that systematically favours higher-income households. Structural inequalities call for structural remedies, and with the NSFM's CAP proposal it's time to let the CAP fade away and replace it with an improved structure that actually helps those who are struggling the most."

The tool, located at https://nsfm.ca/cap_map.html, is designed to illustrate the disparity in taxable value between homeowners resulting from the CAP program. Users can search their individual properties, to see who is benefitting and who is paying more than their fair share under the CAP.

To make the map, the tax bill was calculated for each property in Nova Scotia with the current CAP system in place, and without it. The map then visually represents the difference between the capped and uncapped bills. AMANS President Mike Dolter acknowledged that the original intent of the CAP was good: "The CAP was intended to help keep taxes low, but our map and study show that under the CAP, more than 60% of homeowners and renters are actually paying more taxes."

"The CAP is a complicated issue and it's hard to understand the impacts of it. Two similarly valued properties should not be paying dramatically different taxes just because one owner has lived there longer," says Chris Peters, President of NSAR. "We're very pleased to partner on a project that will help Nova Scotians, and our elected leaders, understand the unintended consequences of the CAP."

"The CAP Map's visuals and filters simplify the job of understanding the negative impact that Nova Scotia's Capped Assessment program is having on the apartment rental industry and renters," said Kevin Russell, the Executive Director of IPOANS.

Removing the CAP has been a priority of the NSFM going back many years. The work of an all-party committee looking into the CAP was put on hold earlier this year when COVID struck. NSFM is working to reconvene the committee early in 2021.