The City begins preparing 2021 Property Assessment Roll
Work is underway as The City of Calgary begins the legislated annual process of preparing the 2021 Property Assessment Roll. City Assessment staff are reviewing real estate data collected from various sources including Alberta Land Titles and from property owners directly to determine market value assessments on more than 500,000 Calgary properties. This annual process begins with the provincially set valuation date of July 1.
Even though COVID-19 has brought unique challenges to the process, City Assessment staff remain confident that they can deliver market value assessments for the purpose of equitable tax distribution. “While the COVID-19 pandemic has created many challenges, we are working diligently to prepare the 2021 Assessment Roll,” said Eddie Lee, Acting City Assessor and Director of Assessment.
COVID-19 impacted real estate market conditions are trending differently than last year, as Calgarians may expect. “At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, real estate market conditions experienced a rapid transition into a state of uncertainty,” said Lee. “Overall, the number of real estate transactions have significantly declined over the past several months. It is reasonable to expect market value decreases within certain property types in the 2021 Assessments based on the legislated 2020 July 1 valuation date.”
From Assessment’s early analysis, the average residential property owner can expect values to decrease in 2021. The biggest change in values may occur within the non-residential class, where assessors are anticipating significant decreases for hotel properties as the tourism industry is one of the hardest sectors hit by COVID-19. Preliminary analysis is also showing decreases in retail and office properties, whereas industrial properties are remaining relatively stable.
While The City is noting these trends, it is important to remember that now is the time for further analysis. In the coming months Assessment will be collecting and reviewing more market data information and trends. Assessment has sent out more than 12,000 direct information requests to non-residential and multi-residential property owners and are awaiting their rental, vacancy, income and detailed sales transaction information. That information will be used to determine preliminary values which will be shared this fall with owners. We also encourage property owners to go online to Assessment Search and update their property details to ensure the data used to determine assessment values remains current. During the Pre-Roll Consultation Period, which occurs in the fall, City assessors exchange further data and trend information with non-residential and multi-residential property owners and/or their agents before final values are determined and assessment notices are mailed in 2021.
Calgarians interested in knowing their 2021 property values are encouraged to keep up-to-date by:
- Taking a look at the real estate sales information around the July 1 valuation date. Consider looking at MLS house price listings to compare similar properties to yours.
- Logging on to Assessment Search, at calgary.ca/assessmentsearch, and review the real estate data on file at The City. The City offers market value real estate information such as the last three years of sales transactions for free to help Calgary property owners better understand property assessments. Access is easy - sign-up for a myID account and begin.
- Making sure the information we have on your property is up to date, which you can conveniently access through your Assessment Search account.
While on Assessment Search, Calgarians may sign-up for eNotices ensuring their 2021 assessment notice is delivered safely and securely in their account. Signing up for eNotices reduces City mailing costs, saving taxpayer dollars. For more information please visit calgary.ca/assessment.
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