Figuring out municipal assessment.

• Author: Mireau, Shaunna
• Position: Online law

I just finished getting my taxes together for my accountant, one of my very favourite people at this time of year. I am of the opinion that if you want a professional job done of something, you should have a professional do it!

Why am I telling you this? When I was gathering all of my paperwork, part of the gather included my property tax assessment. Because my husband runs a business for which he has a shop on our property, part of the taxes are attributable to the company.

Looking at the assessment reminded me that this article was due! It also brought to mind how municipalities calculate tax assessment, and because I can never remember the ins and outs of the mill rate, or even what that is, I thought we could do a little research together and find some answers.

Who is in charge of municipal governments?

In Alberta, like most other provinces, there is a provincial government department that gives municipal governments rules and advice. From the Municipal Affairs website (www.municipalaffairs.gov.ab.ca/mahome/ab out_us/index.cfm):

"The Ministry of Alberta Municipal Affairs is responsible for:

* Supporting good government at the local level

* Ensuring that Alberta communities are safe and self-reliant"

Self-reliant likely means self funding. There is a branch of Municipal Affairs devoted to municipal assessment.

What does Assessment Services do?

From www.municipalaffairs.gov.ab.ca/ mahome/as/index.cfm:

"The Assessment Services Branch helps to ensure that Albertans have an effective and efficient system of assessment and property taxation. It works in partnership with local governments, assessment professionals and other stakeholders. "Assessment is the process of placing a dollar value on a property for taxation purposes. Property taxation is the method of applying a tax rate to a property's assessed value to determine the taxes payable by the owner of that property. Property taxes are a main source of revenue for Alberta municipalities. "The property assessment process is important to property owners and to their local governments. If an assessment is too high, for example, it will be unfair to the owner. If an assessment is too low, local governments lose an important source of funding for community services and facilities.

"The branch's roles are to:

* provide advice and information on assessment and property tax matters to municipalities and taxpayers

* ensure that related legislation, regulations and assessment practices are current...