A social enterprise agency is going to have to pay its full property taxes after losing an appeal of the assessed value of its main building in downtown Sydney, N.S.

New Dawn Enterprises had asked the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board to base its assessment on its ability to pay, which would have cut its property tax bill by more than half.

The agency bought a former high school and an old convent in downtown Sydney for $250,000, invested about $17 million in the property, with about $10 milli…