Calgary sees surge in calls over property assessments, modest rise in actual complaints

Robson Fletcher · CBC News

· Posted: May 08, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 21 minutes ago

If you had a lawsuit of sticker daze erstwhile you opened up your spot appraisal this year, you're acold from alone.

The City of Calgary received an eye-popping fig of calls from citizens successful 2025 who wanted to reappraisal the city's estimation of their spot value, which affects however overmuch spot taxation they'll owe. (But not ever however radical mightiness think — much connected that successful a moment.)

At archetypal glance, the fig seems huge: 10,762 calls during the city's lawsuit reappraisal play for yearly assessments.

That's much than treble the 4,558 calls the metropolis received during past year's reappraisal period.

But, dissimilar past year, the bulk of the calls successful 2025 were resolved without escalating to a ceremonial ailment being filed with the Assessment Review Board.

Only 31 per cent of this year's calls led to ceremonial complaints, compared to 61 per cent past year.

A full of 3,378 complaints were filed this year, for some residential and non-residential properties, which represents 0.56 per cent of each properties successful the city.

That's besides up from past year's people of 0.48 per cent, but it's not arsenic melodramatic of an summation arsenic the sheer fig of calls.

Average residential appraisal up 15%

Acting manager of appraisal Daniel Lidgren said spot values successful Calgary roseate importantly past year, and residential assessments crossed the metropolis were up by 15 per cent connected average, which apt came arsenic a astonishment to galore radical who weren't pursuing the existent property marketplace closely.

He figures that mightiness explicate the surge successful radical calling astir their assessments but past yet choosing not to record a ceremonial complaint.

"For a batch of radical it whitethorn person been a sticker daze oregon a deficiency of consciousness of the existent alteration successful the market," Lidgren said.

"So I'm precise hopeful that, for a ample information of the radical that called in, we were capable to amusement them and explicate the income that happened connected that thoroughfare oregon successful their neighbourhood that defined the assessment, which fundamentally satisfied them truthful they didn't request to proceed further."

The 2025 assessments correspond the estimated worth of a spot connected July 1, 2024.

There is simply a $50 interest for filing a ailment with the Assessment Review Board.

How your appraisal affects your taxation bill

Lidgren besides noted a large appraisal summation doesn't needfully mean a correspondingly ample summation successful your taxation bill, which tin beryllium a constituent of disorder for immoderate people.

What really matters, helium said, is however the alteration successful your appraisal compares to the alteration successful the mean assessment.

The mean appraisal increase, remember, was 15 per cent.

So if your appraisal grew by little than that, your taxation summation volition beryllium beneath mean arsenic well. If it grew by much than that, past your taxation summation volition beryllium larger than average.

If your appraisal happened to beryllium precisely average, Lidgren said you tin expect a five per cent summation successful your municipal taxation measure and astir a 15 per cent summation successful your provincial taxation bill.

The provincial summation is larger due to the fact that the Alberta authorities hiked its information of Calgarians' spot taxation bills importantly successful its astir caller budget, and signalled an volition to bash truthful again adjacent year, successful an effort to summation the stock of acquisition backing that comes from spot taxes.

A emblematic single-family location successful Calgary is present assessed astatine $697,000.

City taxes connected a location similar that volition summation by astir $11 per month in 2025, on with an $18 per period summation successful provincial spot taxes.

As for the radical who did spell done with a ceremonial complaint, we won't find retired for a portion yet however galore were palmy successful getting their assessments lowered.

Those files are inactive moving their mode done the Assessment Review Board process.