How Calgary Property Assessment and Property Tax Work

Assessment and tax are different things

The assessment is a market-value estimate prepared by the City’s assessor. Calgary assessments reflect market value as of July 1 of the previous year, not current market conditions, which is why an assessment can look out of step with what a house would sell for today.

The tax bill is arithmetic: assessed value multiplied by the tax rates. The City’s rate is not a fixed figure that guarantees any individual’s bill, because it depends on Council’s approved budget and on total assessment across the city. If assessments rise generally, a lower rate is needed to raise the same revenue, and if your assessment rises less than the citywide average, your share of the total falls.

Who assesses, and who sets the rate

The City of Calgary prepares annual assessments and mails assessment notices in January. Property tax bills are issued later in the spring, once Council has approved the budget and the provincial budget is known, and they carry a due date in June.

• Assessment: prepared by the City’s assessor, based on market value as of July 1 of the previous year.
• City tax rate: derived from Council’s approved budget, by dividing the revenue the City needs from property tax by total assessment.
• Provincial education tax rate: set by the Government of Alberta.
• Collection: the City bills and collects both portions, which is why they appear on one bill.

The provincial education portion of your bill

Part of what you pay is not City revenue. Each year the province calculates the amount each municipality must contribute to the education system and sets the provincial education property tax rate, which Municipal Affairs establishes. The municipality then applies the local education rate to your assessed value and collects the tax on the province’s behalf.

The money is pooled into the Alberta School Foundation Fund and distributed to public school boards on an equal per-student basis, which is why property owners without children in school still pay it. Because the rate is provincial, a dispute about the education portion is not a dispute with the City, while questions about assessed value, market-value assessments, school support declarations and monthly instalment plans are municipal matters.

The customer review period and the deadline to complain

Assessment notices open a Customer Review Period, which runs for a set number of days after the notice is mailed and applies to supplementary notices as well. The dates are printed on your notice, and the City notes that they can vary, so your notice rather than a remembered rule is the source for your own window.

The period exists so that you can check the accuracy of your assessment before it becomes final. Using the City’s myTax service you can review your property details, look at the sales and construction information the City relied on, and compare your property with others in the neighbourhood.

If you still disagree, the first step is to contact the City, because an adjustment can be made without a formal complaint. If that does not resolve the issue, a formal complaint goes to the independent Assessment Review Board, and it must be submitted within the review period.

Paying the bill, including monthly instalments

Property tax can be paid in one sum or through TIPP, the Tax Instalment Payment Plan, which takes the same annual amount by automatic monthly withdrawal instead of a single large payment. There is no charge to join and participants do not re-apply each year. Instalment amounts are reviewed during the year so that the plan collects neither more nor less than the annual bill.

Supplementary assessment notices and tax bills can be issued at any point in the year, and they carry their own due dates, which is a common source of confusion for new owners and for properties that have changed.

• Pay in full by the due date shown on the bill, or spread the same amount monthly through TIPP.
• Supplementary bills carry their own due dates; check the bill rather than assuming the June date applies.
• Late payment attracts penalties, which the City publishes on its deadlines and penalties page.
• Property tax assistance exists for eligible seniors who are struggling with the bill.

What to check before you pay

• Confirm the assessment notice and the tax bill both refer to your property, and check the school support declaration shown on the notice.
• If you disagree with the assessed value, start the review during the Customer Review Period, not after the bill lands.
• Check the due date on the document in front of you, especially for a supplementary bill.
• Pay through the City. Third-party sites that charge a fee to process a municipal payment are not the City of Calgary.