Errors in your property record: how to check and correct them

What the assessor has on file

Your assessment rests on a record of property details. If one detail is wrong, the value is wrong too, even when the valuation model is sound. It is often the easiest ground to prove. Both major cities publish what they look at.

Edmonton gives this list, noting that its assessors use criteria similar to those property appraisers and real estate agents use when pricing a home for sale:

• style of home (bungalow, bi-level and so on);
• size of lot and size of home;
• year built;
• basement or lower level finish;
• garage: “size, detached or attached”;
• building condition and type of roof;
• fireplaces, air conditioning and other special features, including swimming pools;
• neighbourhood and locational factors (parks, river valley, high traffic routes, commercial development).

What Calgary looks at, and where the data comes from

The City of Calgary says its assessors factor in “age, location, living area, lot size, additions, renovations, and more.” For a house, it analyzes sales from the three years leading up to July 1, the valuation date.

Edmonton names its sources: property sales, Alberta Land Titles records and its own records, such as permit and construction information. Renovations done without a permit can therefore be missing from your record. If you see a gap in either direction, report it.

A reminder about dates: the notice reflects physical condition on December 31 of the previous year (MGA, s. 289(2)). A basement finished in February does not belong on the January notice. See the dates that matter.

The checklist

Compare each line of your record with the property as it stood on December 31. The right-hand column suggests documents that help prove an error; the law requires none of them, but the Calgary ARB lists photos and contractor estimates among useful evidence.

Where to see your property details

In Calgary, myTax (secure access with a myID account) shows your Property Assessment Detail Report, assessment summary reports on up to 50 comparable properties and sales within three years of the July 1 valuation date. In Edmonton, MyProperty shows the details specific to your property.

The law also gives you a right of access. Under section 299 of the MGA, you can ask to see how the assessor prepared your assessment. The regulation sets out what must be shown: all documents and records about the property, the descriptors and codes for the variables in the valuation model applied to it, and any adjustments made outside the model; coefficients are excluded (MRAT, s. 33). Section 300 gives access to a summary of another property’s assessment: description, lot size and measurements, age and size of improvements, key attributes and assessed value.

The municipality has 15 days to respond, or it can provide the information with the notice or on a website (MRAT, ss. 34 and 35). If it does not respond, you can ask the Minister for a compliance review within 45 days of your request (MRAT, s. 36). Edmonton provides a form for each section. Calgary ties its Assessment Information Request (AIR) to the same sections; a single residential owner uses the paper form, and the City charges $50 per roll number if the information is already available online.

Getting an error corrected during the review period

The province recommends contacting the assessor first. In Calgary, the City may ask permission to inspect or ask you to send pictures; “Any confirmed inconsistencies that are discovered will be corrected,” it says, and an amended notice follows if the value changes. In Edmonton, you contact the City and it arranges for an assessor to re-inspect your property.

The law frames the correction: the assessor may correct the roll “for the current year only,” and an amended assessment notice must then be sent (MGA, s. 305(1)). The Municipal Affairs guide confirms that an error on a previous year’s notice cannot be corrected. Calgary adds that changes can only be made during its Customer Review Period, which ends with the complaint deadline.

The key point: talking to the assessor does not extend the deadline. If the answer is slow and the deadline is near, file a complaint. If the assessor later corrects the assessment and sends the amended notice to the board before the hearing, the complaint is cancelled, the fee is refunded and you get a new right of complaint on the amended notice (MGA, s. 305(1.2)). How amended notices work is covered in amended and supplementary notices.

If the error is not corrected: the complaint

The property description is a ground of complaint in itself (MGA, s. 460(5)(a)), as is the assessment. The complaint must state what information is incorrect, in what respect, what the correct information is and, if you challenge the value, the requested assessed value (s. 460(9)). Check both boxes if the error changes the value: the board will not hear an issue left off the form (MRAC, s. 6).

Make your information request before filing. Once a complaint is filed, the municipality does not have to answer a section 299 request until the complaint is decided (s. 299(3)). Other useful evidence is described in evidence that works, and the full process in the complete guide.

Inspections, and what happens the following year

Calgary notes that section 294(1) of the MGA allows it to enter and inspect a property after giving reasonable notice. Edmonton also re-inspects selected neighbourhoods each year; a change that affects value, such as a new garage or an addition, is typically reflected in the tax year after the re-inspection.

It works both ways. Edmonton gives the example of a reduction granted for a collapsed basement foundation: it does not carry over if the foundation was repaired by December 31. The record follows the actual state of the property, in either direction.

Frequently asked questions