Forms

• Assessment Review Board – Complaint Form
• Assessment Review Board – Agent Authorization Form
• Withdrawal of Complaint Form

The first step is to contact the Town of High River Assessment Department.

The Assessment Review Period is your opportunity to review your assessment, receive more information about your assessment and if necessary discuss your assessment with us. View information an key dates for 2021.

If you have questions, think your assessment may be wrong. the data is incorrect please contact the Town of High River Assessment Department to set up an appointment by telephone or via Zoom. We are committed to providing customer service during the COVID-19 pandemic public health orders and protocols.

To make an appointment to speak with an Assessor:

Email: assessment@highriver.ca
Telephone: 403-652-2110

The assessor may then inspect the property and correct the assessment if necessary. If the assessor agrees that the original notice is not accurate, a new notice will be issued.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the assessor review you may then appeal the assessment to the Assessment Review Board.

The matters that may be questioned are:

• Description of a property
• Name and mailing address of an assessed person or taxpayer
• An assessment amount
• An assessment class or subclass
• The type of property
• The declared school support
• Whether the property is assessable
• Whether the property is exempt from taxation

Important Dates

• February 28, 2023: assessment notices mailed
• March 8 through May 8, 2023: 60-day customer review period.
• April 13, 2023: Assessment Open House Town Office | 4:30 PM - 8:00 PM
• April 15, 2023: Assessment Open House Town Office | 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
• April 20, 2023: Assessment Open House Town Office | 4:30 PM - 8:00 PM
• May 8, 2023: Assessment Final Complaint Deadline
• INQUIRIES MUST BE MADE WITHIN THE 60-DAY ASSESSMENT REVIEW PERIOD

In order to submit an appeal, the complainant must:

• First, have spoken with an assessor to attempt to resolve the issue.
• Complete the Assessment Review Complaint Form in full, accompanied by the application fee as per the current Rate Bylaw
• An agent may file a complaint on your behalf if an "Agent Authorization" form is completed and included with your complaint.
• Submit the Assessment Review Complaint Form to the Assessment Review Board Clerk at;

Clerk of the Assessment Review Board 309B Macleod Trail SW High River, Alberta T1V 1Z5

You will then be advised in writing not less than 35 days before the hearing of the date on which the Local Assessment Review Board (LARB) or the Composite Assessment Review Board (CARB) will hear your assessment appeal.

Your right to file a complaint with the Assessment Review Board against your assessment notice is an added assurance that the entire process is fair, equitable, and impartial. The Assessment Review Board is a Quasi-Judicial Board that processes complaints from taxpayers who disagree with local improvements or the assessed values of property and business.

The Assessment Review Board hears the formal complaints to maintain assessment equity throughout High River. It is an impartial board as set out in the Municipal Government Act.

Legislation governing the Assessment Review Board is contained in the revised Part 11 of the Municipal Government Act and the new Alberta Regulation AR 201/2017 – Matters Relating to Assessment Complaints Regulation, which legislates some of the procedures that complainants must adhere to after a complaint has been filed.

Failure to comply with the legislation and related Town bylaws may result in your complaint being invalid. Copies of the publications are available from:

Alberta Queen’s Printer Online
602 – 620 7th Ave. S.W., Calgary, AB T2P 0Y8
Telephone: (403) 297-6251

If you disagree with the decision of the Assessment Review Board, you are entitled to appeal the decision to the Court of Queens Bench.

Fees

Town of High River Current Rate Bylaw sets out the Assessment Review Complaint Fees as follows:

• Assessment Appeal for residential with three (3) or fewer dwellings and farmland: $50.00 per appeal
• Assessment Appeal for residential with four (4) or more dwellings: $650.00 per appeal
• Assessment Appeal Non-residential: $650.00 per appeal

Note: the fee is refundable if the appeal is successful

The following fees are set by ALBERTA REGULATION 310/2009

Assessment Appeal Linear Property-power generation Assessment Appeal Linear Property- other Assessment Appeal Equalized Assessment.

As a property owner, you are entitled to see or receive sufficient information about your property and a

summary of any assessment in accordance with sections 299 and 300 of the Municipal Government Act.

As a service to our rate payers, we provide a number of on-line features and services to assist you in learning

About your assessment. Below are a few of the resources we recommend looking at before beginning with this request.

• Review Your Assessment Notice – Review your assessment notice to ensure:
  • Your name, address and school support are correct
  • The property classification (residential, farmland, non-residential) correctly describes your property

• Assessment Value Search
  • Accessing the Town of High River “Property Assessment Map” at the link below, allows you to view basic assessment

Information relating to any residential property within the Town of High River. You should compare your assessment

to the assessments of other properties similar in size, age, quality, condition and location.

• Speak with an Assessor
  • If you require further clarification on your assessment value, please call the Town of High River at 403-652-2110 and ask to speak with an Assessor

• Request for Additional Information
  • If, after completing the above steps, you still feel the information provided is not sufficient, a 299 or 300 request can be made in writing directly to the Town of High River Assessment Department. Use the form(s) below to make a formal request after you have spoken with an Assessor. Use the “assessment information request reference” to help fill out the form(s)

Note: While the “assessment information request reference” is from the Town of Cochrane and Airdrie web pages, I think it includes

Information for the completion of these forms.

1. 2023 Town of High River – Section 299 Request for Information (pdf)
2. 2023 Town of High River – Section 300 Request for Information (pdf)
3. 2023 Agent Authorization Form (pdf)

The ARB will determine the validity of any forms that are incomplete, filed after the deadline or without the required fee.

This information must be requested in writing directly to the Assessment Department.

Requests can be e-mailed or mailed to the Assessors at the following address:

Assessment Department

Town of High River

309B Macleod Trail SW

High River, AB. T1V 1Z5

Email: assessment@highriver.ca