Property taxes are like death – they’re going to happen, says a tax adviser practising in Calgary.
“They’re worse than death in a way, because they happen every year,” quips Stephen Cobb, president of the Assessment Advisory Group (AAG).
This is the time of year for property taxes in Calgary, and Cobb’s desk in his 8 Avenue S.W. office is loaded with faxed documents for assessment appeals.
“Property tax assessments are appealable and movable,” he says. “They are not cast in stone.”
You can appeal your assessment whether it’s up or down from last year, because last year’s assessment may be wrong as well. Anyone paying upwards of $5,000 or $10,000 in property tax should seek professional help, he adds.
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| File photo by Larry MacDougal, Business Edge |
| Assessments on income-producing properties should be equitable and fair, says Stephen Cobb of the Assessment Advisory Group |
The city mailed tax assessments at the end of March and you have until May 1 to appeal.
Assessment Advisory Group’s business deals mainly with income-producing property, including commercial land and multi-family housing, in the four western provinces and the Yukon.
(The City of Edmonton website says the capital’s assessment notices will be mailed near the end of May with a July 5 deadline for appeals.)
Assessments should be both equitable and fair, says Cobb. If a building is worth $15 million and it’s assessed at $18 million or $20 million, that isn’t fair. If a building is under- or over-valued, neighbouring buildings should be treated similarly to be equitable.
Fairness is based on the income from rents, or sales for residential property. Even for commercial buildings, those that changed hands with no undue pressure on either company would be assessed close to the sale price, he says.
So how does a building owner tell if he should appeal an assessment? A landlord with residential property should talk to a real estate agent about values in the area. A landlord with commercial property should talk to a tax agent, says Cobb.
Property owners can appeal assessments on a variety of grounds, such as an environmental problem that lowers a building’s value, or a property that has been wrongly sized. Last year, AAG handled an appeal for a C-Class building that had been assessed on a similar scale as nearby Class B buildings.
Advising clients about future taxes means giving them the worst-case scenario. Property managers make other decisions based on those possibilities. Most tenants are on net rents, in which they pay a monthly rate plus a share of the building’s operating costs, the largest of which is property tax, he notes.
Maintenance is not an improvement, he adds. “If that building over there got a new roof, that wouldn’t put up its value, because you assume the roof is doing its job,” he says. “If it got a new exterior, that should improve the value. . . . they should be able to get a higher rent.”
Architects’ revenue rose almost eight per cent in 2001 compared to 2000, Statistics Canada reports.
The federal statistical agency says the hot housing market and low interest rates boosted investment in residential buildings, stimulating the architectural services industry to earn $1.5 billion, an increase of 7.9 per cent.
Almost half the revenue – 48 per cent – was earned by architectural companies in Ontario. British Columbia architects earned 17 per cent, Quebecers 14 per cent and Albertans 12 per cent. Revenue grew in all provinces except Saskatchewan, where it fell 9.5 per cent, and Manitoba, where it fell five per cent.
Architects’ income from fees was $1.2 billion in 2001, amounting to 79 per cent of their operating revenue. Income from foreign projects totalled less than $50 million, half from the United States and one-third from Europe. Most of that money went to Ontario and British Columbia.
Fewer than 15,000 people work in architectural services, 48 per cent of them architects and 33 per cent technical staff. Small firms predominate: fewer than one-fifth of 4,200 establishments had six or more employees. Local business also predominates, with few firms having offices in more than one province, says Stats Can.
The sixth annual Sustainable Building Symposium is set for April 28 and 29 in Calgary, and April 29 and 30 in Edmonton.
Keynote speakers are Bruce Lorimer, director general of public works for the federal government, and Peter Garforth, former vice- president at Owens Corning, who now consults on energy productivity solutions. Lorimer is to speak on federal priorities on sustainable project delivery and Garforth on the competitiveness of energy-efficient buildings.
Other presentations include water conservation in a built environment, a sustainable school as an educational tool, and structural design and the sustainable building process.
The conference fee is $400 plus GST.
Web watch:
www.aagroup.ca
www.calgary.ca
www.gov.edmonton.ab.ca
www.sustainablebuildings.ca
