Making Sense of your Property Tax Assessment

You should have received your Annual Assessment Notices from the City of Edmonton by now. This is the assessed value of your property, which substantiates how much tax you have to pay on it. Simply speaking, the assessment places a dollar value on your home for tax reasons.

It is not possible for the City of Edmonton to physically appraise each house, so assessments are based on the fair market value of the property. A number of key factors such as age, size, layout, traffic noise, proximity to establishments like schools, parks, restaurants, etc. help determine the assessment amount.

Your property assessment should manifest the overall market of the previous year; for example, the assessed value of your property will most likely decrease if houses in your neighbourhood didn't sell as well as they did the year before. Alternatively, the assessed value of your property may increase if either renovations or upgrades have been done and you registered these improvements with the City via permits and/or a revised Real Property Report.

There is a secure website that enables you as a property owner in Edmonton to obtain assessment information specific to your property. Sign in information is located on your most recent City of Edmonton property assessment notice. Review a full report of your assessment here.

Following the mailing date of the Assessment Notices on January 04, 2016, a property assessment review period is held until March 11, 2016 wherein you can arrange to speak with an assessor concerning any disagreement you may have with the assessed value of your property.

However, if you still disagree with the assessed value, you may file a complaint with theAssessment Review Board. The formal complaint must be filed prior to the deadline on March 11, 2016 in order for the Board to review your case. Regardless if a formal complaint has been filed, you still need to pay your taxes on time or you'll be penalized.

Property tax bills are mailed out May 24th and are due June 30th. The City allows you to pay in multiple ways; in person, online banking, credit card or cheque. If you don't want to have the financial burden of paying all at once, you can set up a Property Tax Monthly Payment Plan. You can request enrolment in the plan here.