(Medicine Hat) – Since 2013, the Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce has been working with the City Assessment department and local members on recommendations for a more equitable and transparent non-residential assessment process. The City’s Assessment Department, particularly under the leadership of City Assessor Sue Sterkenburg, has worked diligently to improve the process and increase communication with property owners for the ultimate benefit of our business community. 

In particular, some of the highlights on the progress that was made include: 

•    Three separate approaches to value are used when conducting the mass appraisal of non-residential property, recognizing that not all three approaches are used simultaneously and reconciled on each property. 

•    The Assessment Department has sent yearly Assessment Request for Information (ARFI) to property owners to increase the database for lease rates, vacancies, expenses, and sales verification data. To further strengthen the available data, the Assessment Department and commercial realtor’s group are resuming yearly meetings to discuss market conditions and assessment analysis results. 

•    The department has committed to improving the valuation process for income approach to non-residential properties with improvements made to the vacancy rates. Since the 2018 tax year, the vacancy rate application was applied based on type (retail, office, industrial, mini-storage), and location (downtown, not downtown). This application eliminated the potential of large fluctuations with small data sets within neighbourhoods. 

•    The Assessment Department has improved communication with property owners, recognizing that notifying owners of upcoming changes is beneficial to build trust and ensure the correctness of assessment data. Furthermore, increased notification measures have been undertaken in the case of a property’s assessed value increasing more than 20% year over year. 

Trevor Anhel, President of the Chamber stated, “One of the key purposes of Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce is to ensure that the voices of our business community are heard at all levels of government. The fact that this policy can be marked as completed is a testament to the progress that can be achieved when Chambers, our business community, and government work together to foster innovative solutions. Ultimately this is a win for our business community, which will contribute to the continued development and growth of our city.” 

The Chamber has concluded by asking for three considerations, including evaluating the feasibility of a pre-roll consultation, implementation of a tax calculator and the awareness of Council's ability to cancel or refund taxes when warranted in certain circumstances. 

In recognition of the work done by the Assessment Department, the Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce has detailed the progress in a letter to City Council. That letter can be found here: https://growthzonesitesprod.azureedge.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/1308/2023/08/2023-08-17-Letter-to-City-Council-re-Commercial-Tax-Assessment.pdf

To view more information on our blog, read our article here: https://www.medicinehatchamber.com/2023/08/29/policy-win-predictable-and-fair-market-value-assessments/

View the completed policy here: https://chamber.medicinehatchamber.com/policies/Details/predictable-and-fair-market-value-assessments-123118

The Chamber of Commerce is a member-driven, volunteer-led organization that proudly represents the interests of businesses in Medicine Hat & area. For more than 120 years, the Chamber of Commerce has been Medicine Hat’s main connector of people, ideas and stories. Representing over 800 businesses, the Chamber continues to facilitate meetings, debates and gatherings in order to solve business challenges and push the social and political agenda to make our region a better place for business. Provincially and nationally the Chamber is part of a larger business network, aligning with organizations such as the Alberta Chambers of Commerce (ACC), which represents over 24,000 businesses and the Canadian Chambers of Commerce (CCC), representing over 200,000 businesses. Being aligned with the largest and most influential business organizations in Alberta and Canada respectively, the Chamber can work together to shape policy that will make a difference.

Please direct all media inquiries to:

Trevor Anhel, President
c/o Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce
(403) 527-5214 ext.227