2020 Property Tax Assessment Notices

By now most, if not all, of you will have received your 2020 Tax Assessment notice in the mail. It’s important to remember these assessments are not your tax bill; that gets sent out in May. Assessments reflect the City’s estimate of your property’s market value as of July 1, 2019, which is then used to determine that each resident is paying their fair share of municipal and provincial education taxes.

Council worked hard last year to keep residential taxes as low as possible, and we were able to reduce the annual tax increase from 2.6 per cent to 2.08 percent. This may not seem like a lot on the surface, but it’s the best we can do while still maintaining essential services for residents. I wrote an extensive blog post about the 2020 Budget and how Council came to that 2.08% mark for those that would like to learn more. Keep in mind that the total increase won’t be known until April after the province releases the provincial education tax portion.

This year, the City is trying to make viewing and understanding assessment notices easier. I encourage you to visit myproperty.edmonton.ca, where you will find several new features that offer information about assessment and taxes related to your property. You’ll be able to review the details of your assessment, check what makes up your assessed value, and compare your property’s value to similar properties in your neighbourhood. This will give you a better understanding of why you are paying what you are, and why your home is assessed at what it is.If you have questions after reviewing your notice, or have not received it by mid-January, please contact the City for one-on-one support by calling 311, or visit edmonton.ca/assessment for more resources, including property-specific information.

I've also included a handy video that explains Property Assessments quite well.https://youtu.be/3iVOZYjduQ0