Property Taxes

Definition

Your annual combined assessment and tax notice includes the municipal taxes, provincial education requisitions, and seniors housing requisition.

Property Assessment & Tax 101

Click here for the Alberta Municipal Affairs Guide to Property Assessment and Taxation in Alberta.

Valuation Date

The property value(s) that make up your property assessment is based on what the estimated value of your property is as of July 1 of the year prior to the property assessment and tax notice being sent out. For instance, the estimated market value for the 2021 property assessment and tax notice is July 1, 2020.

The reason all property is valued as of July 1 is to ensure there is enough time for property assessors in Alberta to value all of the properties in a municipality.

Physical Status Date

Properties are assessed based on their physical status as of December 31 of the year prior to the property assessment and tax notice being sent out. For instance, for the 2021 property assessment and tax notice, the assessment represents the property's physical condition as of December 31, 2020.

If a property has a new building built or a subdivision in the current tax year, you will not receive an adjustment on your tax bill for the new building. This change will show up in the following year's tax and assessment notice. For instance, if a property has a new garage on it or has gone through a subdivision in February of 2021, because these changes were not on the property as of December 31, 2020, these changes will not be reflected in the 2021 tax and assessment notice. These changes will be represented in the 2022 tax and assessment notice.

Receiving Your Notice

The onus is on the land owners to ensure the taxes are paid on a property. If you have not received your property assessment and tax notice by the latter part of June, please contact the municipal district's tax clerk, email the Property Tax Technician, at 780-826-3171, ext. 9233.

The Municipal Government Act requires municipalities to post in their local papers a notice that the tax notices have been mailed out.

Updating Mailing Addresses

If you have a new mailing address, it is very important to notify the municipality and Alberta land titles of any mailing address changes.

Some properties are in the tax recovery process due to the Municipality and Alberta Land Titles not having current mailing addresses. When mailing addresses are not updated, you may not receive your notice.

Tax Recovery Process

When properties have more than one year of outstanding taxes (arrears) they are subject to a tax recovery process, which may result in the property being placed into a public auction.

The most common reason why properties are subject to the tax recovery process is due to incorrect mailing addresses and property owners forgetting that property taxes are levied on their properties.