Ratepayers in the Town of Drumheller have begun receiving their 2025 Property Assessment notices, with some including significant increases to the improvement portion of their assessment.
These increases have prompted some residents to flock to area discussion groups on Facebook to air their concerns.
Assessor Riley Kloss from Wild Rose Assessment Services of Red Deer, which is the largest assessment firm in central Alberta and provides assessment services to a total of 38 municipalities, gave a presentation during the Monday, February 10 Committee of the Whole meeting. The presentation outlined what property assessments are, what is assessed, and provided information on the annual assessment cycle.
He explained assessments are based upon market value and are prepared using mass appraisal, and reflect typical market conditions for similar properties.
There are two important dates for assessments-the Condition Date of December 31 where the physical condition of a property is assessed, and the Valuation Date of July 1 which precedes the Condition Date and which assesses the property based on market value as of the given date.
Sales are analyzed over a three-year period-for the current assessment period this is between July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2024-and each individual Assessment to Sales Ratio (ASR) is analyzed against all neighbourhood ASRs to the current assessment year.
“ASRs are important, because that’s what tells us where we go. We get a lot of questions about why assessments are up 12 per cent from ratepayers, (and it’s) because properties are consistently selling for quite a bit more than where the assessments are, so we’re following the market,” explained Mr. Kloss.
Most residential property assessments will have two values-land and improvements.
While some may interpret improvements to be any changes made to the property in the last year, improvements are actually based on physical structures or anything attached to a structure on the property, a designated manufactured home, or machinery and equipment.
Mr. Kloss explained properties are classified based on their age, size and quality, and are compared against other similar types of properties to get the most accurate assessment value.
He noted, while the average assessment is up 12 per cent, there are some properties which may have only seen a six or seven per cent increase, while others may have seen upwards of 16 or 17 per cent increases.
“The amount, when we’re talking percentages, is the tricky part. A 10 per cent increase on a $100,000 property is significantly different than 10 per cent on a $600,000 property; so the percentage and the actual dollar value and what it correlates to in a tax bill is tricky,” he said.
Ratepayers with questions about their assessment are encouraged to reach out to Wild Rose Assessment to further discuss or explain their assessment notice. Wild Rose Assessment Services will also attend the Town of Drumheller Public Information Open House on Wednesday, March 5.
