Assessment day nervous for homeowners

Opening your property assessment notice is a little like the Academy Awards. Did I win? Did I lose?

Last night, we opened our notice to find out we lost, to the tune of around 9 per cent and several tens of thousands of dollars. Interestingly, a friend who lives in town, with a home in about the same price range as our country homestead, took an almost identical hit. Another coffee buddy who lives in mansion — by comparison — got a very modest boost.

What this means to taxes depends on where you sit compared to the average assessment increase. If you’re on the right side of it, you won’t feel the bump, or may even benefit. Wrong side equals tax increase.

A lot of people don’t understand how the tax rate works and they think an assessment increase automatically means a tax hike. Not so.

Assessments are to be taken seriously, especially the trend over a number of years. Before you know it, your property can be out of whack with your neighbourhood, or is being valued higher than it should.

Assessing property is subject to error, and challenging assessments is often worthwhile. Over the years, we’ve appealed a number of times with mixed success. We’ve also found assessors range from understanding and co-operative to pig headed. The latter can create real problems for you if they want.

But you never know till you try.