SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
After Coun. Adrian Bell raised the alarm earlier this month on a 45-day appeal period to correct a faulty property tax assessment, the city is pointing its finger at the territorial government, which sets the timeline.

How often are properties assessed, and what kinds of properties are assessed? General property assessments must be carried out at least every nine years Annual property assessments are carried out every year to assess: buildings which have been constructed mobile units which have been installed on a parcel of land improvements or alterations, which would affect the assessed value. Source: GNWT Department of Finance

This comes on the heels of a Yellowknifer editorial ("Hypocrisy over city deadline," March 20) criticizing the city for the onus it puts on the taxpayer in appealing their assessment. Since that time new information has come to light.

"That's GNWT legislation that the city must adhere to," stated city spokesperson Nalini Naidoo in an e-mail to Yellowknifer.

The GNWT's manager of assessment confirms it is indeed territorial legislation governing the appeal period.

David Oystrek - the man in charge of tax assessments for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs - said residents have 45 days to appeal their assessments from the time notices are mailed out, adding this has been the timeline since the late 1980s.

When asked by Yellowknifer why the appeal period on tax assessments is 45 days, Oystrek said the adjustment was made to keep up with a changing world.

"As society evolves so must the legislation," he said. "We're in a digital age now."

He would not elaborate.

Oystrek said assessment services operate at arm's length from bodies dictating how much residents are taxed.

"We remain objective," he said.

On March 25 Bell said he feels the 45-day period for appeal is not reasonable but that changing territorial legislation takes time and so residents need to be able to access the details of their assessments more easily than they're currently able to.

"Changing stuff like (territorial legislation) ... takes a monumental effort. If people could simply verify what the details are of their assessments ... then they'd know whether or not they have to get in touch with the assessor. As long as people can access that information easily, the problem is solved as far as I'm concerned."

Previously, Bell asked that city staff explore ways to include a more detailed assessment in the mail-out notices, and to look at ways to update the city website that would allow residents to view their assessments online.

Oystrek said there's more to the tax assessment process than the 45-day appeal period and that residents need to play a role in ensuring they're properly taxed.

"There is a lot of onus on the ratepayers themselves," he said. "They have as much to do with ... the end result of their assessments as we do. When we assess a property ... we may request to do an interior inspection or we may stand on the porch and go through the assessment with the ratepayer just to ensure all the information we have is accurate. We do leave callback cards."

Oystrek said many homes can be assessed by standing outside and counting heating vents and chimneys. He said if residents don't tell assessors they've made changes within their dwellings, it's difficult to ensure they're properly taxed.

"We don't always gain entry because people don't always let us in but we do try," he said, adding that efforts are made to reach out to residents through advertisements, letting residents know of the need to allow assessors into their homes to check that their assessments are accurate, said Oystrek.

As well, he said the city tax assessor Darcy Beck holds open houses each year - even though he's not bound to do so by law - allowing people to come and talk to him about assessments. He said the most recent meeting wasn't attended by many residents.

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