How to Appeal Your Property Assessment in Newfoundland and Labrador

Two assessors, one Act

In Newfoundland and Labrador, the Municipal Assessment Agency (MAA), a not-for-profit body, assesses property in every municipality “except for the City of St. John’s, which provides its own assessment service.” The MAA assesses more than 210,000 properties. In St. John’s, the City’s Assessment Division assesses more than 50,000 properties.

Both apply the Assessment Act, 2006. The Act requires “actual value,” meaning the market value of the fee simple interest, set as of a base date. The assessor must also have regard to other assessments in the municipality so that taxation falls in a uniform manner.

The appeal process is the same in substance. What differs: where to file, how to pay and how much. Each step below spells out the difference.

The base date: annual, or every second year in St. John’s

The Act sets the base date at January 1 of every year for municipalities, and January 1 of every second year for St. John’s. The assessment is used for taxation one year after the base date in municipalities, two years after in St. John’s (s. 19). This cycle comes from amendments the government announced in 2018, reducing the reassessment cycle “to one year for the Municipal Assessment Agency and two years for the City of St. John’s.”

St. John’s states it plainly: “The base date for 2026–2027 assessment notices is January 1, 2024.” Your assessment reflects value on January 1, 2024, not today’s market. On an MAA notice, the base date is printed in its own area, next to the tax year. For the gap between assessment and sale price, see municipal assessment vs market value.

The assessment notice

The Act provides for delivery “by mail, electronically or in person.” The MAA sends notices once all assessments for a municipality are complete; no fixed month is published. The MAA notice shows the mailing date, the tax year, the base date, the parcel ID (Box 1), the total assessed value (Box 2) and the appeal deadline (Box 3).

Read it as soon as it arrives: the clock is already running. Check your property’s features. If in doubt, the MAA invites you to request your property’s detailed information at 1-877-777-2807 or to speak to an assessor. In St. John’s, the Assessment Division answers at 709-576-8929. The City warns, though: “Reaching out to the Assessment office for a discussion does not extend the appeal period.”

The deadline: 60 days from the date of the notice

Section 30(1) allows 60 days “from the date of the notice of assessment.” The clock starts on the date printed on the notice, not when you receive it. Section 30(2) closes the door: without an appeal served within that time, “there is considered to be no appeal.”

The MAA requires the appeal to be received on or before the Box 3 date and notes that the legislation does not allow it to accept late appeals. St. John’s accepts an appeal “received or postmarked” on or before the date shown. Details are in the appeal deadline guide.

How to file, depending on your municipality

The Act requires a written appeal that states its nature, identifies the property and gives an address for notices (s. 30(5)).

The steps, in order

• Check the notice. Area, storeys, basement, garage, outbuildings: a factual error is the simplest ground.
• Gather evidence: similar sales around the base date, photos, repair quotes. See evidence that works.
• File the appeal before the Box 3 date, with grounds as detailed as possible, as the MAA asks. If an agent acts for you, attach the owner’s authorization.
• Let the assessor in. The assessor reviews the file and may ask for an inspection. Refusing access or information removes the right to appeal (s. 47(4)).
• Read the review result, usually sent by email. You accept it, or you tell the assessor you are proceeding.

What works, and what does not

The MAA recognizes two basic grounds: the property is assessed higher or lower than its actual value, or it was not assessed uniformly with similar properties in similar neighbourhoods. Everything else has to come back to one of those two.

The level of taxes is not one of them. In St. John’s, the City says the commissioner “has no authority over taxes or taxation levels in the municipality.” The Act adds an important nuance: the commissioner does not amend an assessment only because it is above actual value if it bears a just and fair relation to the value of other properties (s. 37(1)).

Before the commissioner

If the review settles nothing, the file goes to an Assessment Review Commissioner, appointed by the municipal or city council, who can be neither a councillor nor an employee of that municipality. The commissioner sends notice of the hearing at least 10 days ahead (s. 31). All appeals must be decided by March 15 of the year following delivery of the notice, unless the parties agree (s. 34(3)).

The commissioner “shall confirm or amend the assessment appealed against by increasing or decreasing it”: the value can go up too. No costs are awarded. The written decision goes out within 15 days. Beyond that, an appeal to the Supreme Court is limited to questions of law or jurisdiction, within 30 days. Everything is in after you appeal.

Do you need a professional appraiser?

Not to file: owners do it themselves. St. John’s does suggest getting a professional estimate of market value as of the base date. A report from an appraiser with the AACI or CRA designation (Appraisal Institute of Canada) matters most for a high value, an income property or a file headed for a hearing. See home appraisal cost and Payotte’s verified appraisers.

Frequently asked questions