Property Assessments


Property

The rules and regulations of assessing property comes from the Municipal Government Act and the Minister’s Guidelines, not from the County Council. The County uses the assessment to calculate the fair distribution of Municipal and School taxes. Properties are assessed or valued every year for taxation in the following year.

More information can be found on the Municipal Affairs website under the Guide to Property Assessment and Taxation in Alberta.

Residential
In Alberta, residential and most commercial property is assessed using the market value approach. To calculate your assessment, assessors look at property characteristics such as the size, type, and age of your property, as well as its location, style, condition, upgrades, and the lot size. The selling prices of similar properties in the same neighbourhood or similar areas are also considered.

Farm residences are assessed along with a three acre site as if it were a separate parcel and get an exemption depending on the amount of farmland they own to a maximum of $61,540.00 for the first residence. Additional residences are up to $30,770.00.

Non-Residential
Linear property includes components of manufacturing or processing facilities that are used for the congeneration of power, or other property on which industry, commerce, or another use takes place or is permitted to take place under a land use bylaw passed by a Council. It does not include farm land or land that is used or intended to be used for permanent living accommodation.

These can be assessed using the sales comparison approach, income approach, and cost approach. The method(s) used will depend on its applicability to the type of property being analyzed.

Linear properties including oil and gas wells, pipelines, electrical power systems, and telecommunication systems are all assessed by Alberta Municipal Affairs under regulated rates established by the province.

More information can be found on the Municipal Affairs website under Annual Linear Property Assessments.

Machinery and Equipment

Machinery and equipment means materials, devices, fittings, installations, appliances, apparatus and tanks other than tanks used exclusively for storage, including supporting foundations and footings and any other thing prescribed by the Minister that forms an integral part of an operational unit intended for or used in:

  • manufacturing,
  • processing,
  • the production or transmission by pipeline of natural resources or products or byproducts of that production, but not including pipeline that fits within the definition of linear property in section 284(k)(iii) of the Act,
  • the excavation or transportation of coal or oil sands, as defined in the Oil Sands Conservation Act,
  • a telecommunications system, or
  • an electric power system,

whether or not the materials, devices, fittings, installations, appliances, apparatus, tanks, foundations, footings or other things are affixed to land in such a manner that they would be transferred without special mention by a transfer or sale of the land.

In preparing an assessment for machinery and equipment, the assessor must follow the procedures set out in the Alberta Machinery and Equipment Assessment Ministers Guidelines established and maintained by the Department of Municipal Affairs, as amended from time to time.

More information can be found on the Municipal Affairs website under Regulated Property Minister’s Guidelines.

Property Tax Exemptions: The Guide to Property Tax Exemptions in Alberta can be downloaded from the Municipal Affairs website under Publications & Forms.

Tax Arrears Penalty: Penalties will be applied to unpaid taxes after the due date of June 30th. 4% will be levied on the outstanding balance on July 1st, with an addition 2% on each subsequent 1st of the month thereafter.

Assessment Review: Inquiries regarding Assessment Detail Sheets can be obtained by contacting the County’s Assessment department at general@northernsunrise.net or in person at the County Office.

Residents wishing to appeal their assessment are encouraged to first contact the Assessment Department to discuss the details of their Notice of Assessment. For more information, please contact Alan Down, County Assessor at 780-625-3292.

Complaint forms can be downloaded from the Municipal Affairs website under Publications.
More information can also be found on the Municipal Affairs website under Filing a Property Assessment Complaint.