Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion
The assessment roll for the Town of Kindersley has been opened and property owners in town have until near the end of May to appeal their assessments.
A notice of preparation for the assessment roll has been issued and officially opened April 27. Anybody who wishes to appeal an assessment must file a notice of appeal by the deadline of May 29. The assessment appeal must be filed with the town’s assessor.
The assessment roll is open for inspection in the office of the assessor and people could view the roll during regular town administration office hours from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The assessment notices have been sent to citizens for 2018.
Audrey Hebert, the town’s assessor and director of corporate services, said it is not a reassessment year in the province, so only property owners whose assessments have changed since 2017 will receive notices.
The Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency (SAMA) completed a reassessment in 2017, so there was a revaluation of all municipalities in Saskatchewan. Each property owner receives an assessment notice in a reassessment year, but notices are only sent to people whose information has changed in a non-assessment year.
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Municipalities keep a maintenance list. Changes could include improvements to properties, subdivisions or changes due to the removal of improvements such as structures. Hebert said the town keeps track of changes to properties, but SAMA will also keep track of changes.
She noted that the goal is to keep track of all changes between the town and SAMA, so it is a collaboration between the two partners. The town submits its changes to SAMA, and then the agency responds with its information and so on.
There is a direct correlation between property taxes and assessments because mill rates are applied to assessments to calculate taxes. Notices are only sent to people with changes, but every property owner has the right to file an appeal, Hebert explained.
“Everybody within the town that owns property has a right to appeal and look at property during the time that the roll is open,” she said, recognizing that people must file the appeal before the roll closes or wait until next year.
There is a window of 30 days for people to file an appeal after the assessment roll opens. The window to appeal is 60 days long in assessment years, but only 30 days in non-assessment years. A reassessment takes place every four years, so the window is 30 days long for three consecutive years, Hebert said.
People are able to obtain field sheets to let them know the details of their property assessments. If people believe the information is wrong or if they have any questions, they could contact Hebert at the town office.
If she cannot answer people’s questions, she said she puts them in touch with SAMA and the agency lets people know if it is worth their time to file an appeal. It costs $100 to file an appeal, but people get their money back if the appeal is successful. If the appeal is unsuccessful, the money is not returned.
There are certain changes that will not make much of a difference to the assessment, Hebert said. If the field sheet says the basement is 80 per cent finished and it is not finished at all, then it might be worth filing an appeal, she explained.
Gord Krismer & Associates Ltd., a firm based in Regina, acts as the town’s Board of Revision. In order to file an appeal, a person must fill out the form and it is sent to the Board of Revision to start the process.
Hebert said an assessment could also be adjusted without filing an appeal. If the field sheet says the basement is 100 per cent finished and the property owner brings in photos and the basement is only 30 per cent finished, the town contacts SAMA to start a process to change the assessment.
The agency provides an adjusted assessment and the town discusses it with the property owner, according to Hebert. She added that if the property owner agrees with the assessment, “we sign an agreement to adjust, and then it doesn’t have to go through the appeal.”
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