Assessment of Property
Assessed property values determine share of taxes
Each year the City determines the budget required to pay for the services and programs for the year. As part of this process, it determines the amount of the total budget that the City must bring in from property taxes. Then it uses assessed property values to determine each property owner’s share of the total property tax revenue required.
New for 2010 is the availability of data specific to each property, including sales information and significant variables used in individual assessments. This data can be accessed at https://assessmentinfo.edmonton.ca/ using a Password provided on the front of each assessment notice.
Each property owner pays taxes based on how the assessed value of their property compares to all other Edmonton properties. All properties are assessed using similar factors that real estate agents use when pricing a home for sale.
The Alberta government requires all municipalities to update assessed property values to reflect the market value as of July 1 each year. For 2010, taxes are determined by the assessed value as of July 1, 2009.
Property taxes are based on each property’s value compared to all other properties in the city on July 1. So overall market value changes do not affect the total revenue the City collects from the property tax. The City only collects enough taxes to realize the revenue required in the budget.
Municipal property taxes are affected by two factors:
- The City budget for all services and programs for the year. If the budget increases, property taxes will likely increase. For 2010 the average increase for residential property taxes is about five per cent.
- If your property’s assessed value changed more or less than the average change in Edmonton, your tax increase will be more or less than the average 5 per cent tax increase required for the budget.
2010 average change in residential property values
For the 2010 tax year, the market value for all residential properties dropped by an average of about 10 per cent. This does not mean taxes will decrease by 10 per cent. The overall municipal property tax requirement is determined in the budget for the year.
In order to determine if you will pay a tax increase more or less than the 5 per cent increase required in this year’s budget, compare the per cent change in the assessed value of your home with the average change in residential assessment in the City.
If your property decreased more in value compared to the average, your municipal taxes will increase less than the five per cent average increase in taxes.
If your property increased more in value compared to the average, you can expect an increase in the municipal tax portion of your total property taxes.
You will also need to take into account the education tax portion of your total property taxes which is a provincial responsibility. The amount of that tax will not be known until the provincial budget and the municipal tax rate bylaw are passed, which is usually some time in April.
