More and more Montrealers challenging property assessments

An increasing number of Montrealers are contesting the assessed value of their homes, and opposition politicians are warning that will go up even further once the new municipal assessment roll is released next month. 

Radio-Canada has found, through an access-to-information request, a 15.5 per cent increase in the number of residents who challenged their 2014 evaluations, compared to the number of requests for review after the release of the previous assessment roll in 2011.

• Some Montreal homeowners stunned over spike in property assessments

The valuations, which are updated every three years, are used to determine property taxes for residences and businesses.

Property taxes accounted for almost 70 per cent of Montreal's revenues in 2015.

In all, 5,264 Montreal residents submitted requests for review of their 2014 assessment. Of those, 2,651 – or slightly more than half – succeeded in having their home's assessed value reduced.

Fewer city evaluators

That high success rate confirmed anecdotal evidence compiled by the citizens' group Montréal pour tous.

"It makes sense," said Pierre Pagé, a spokesman for the group.  "The increase in evaluations has been so high."

Pagé said the city has reduced the number of real estate evaluators over the past 15 years, meaning "they're doing mass analyses," he said. 

He encouraged residents to examine carefully the valuations they will receive in September. 

'Expect an explosion'

Projet Montréal Councillor Guillaume Lavoie predicted that the high valuations in the next municipal assessment roll are going to provoke even more backlash than the ones in previous roll did.

• Could Montreal's real estate market be the next target for foreign investors?

"Expect an explosion of contestations with the next assessment roll," Lavoie said.

"It's good news when a home is worth more, but in the meantime you have to pay higher taxes, and you don't have more services."

The increase in requests for review of assessed values was highest in the borough of Pierrefonds-Roxboro, which saw an 82 per cent jump from 2011 to 2014.

Ville-Marie saw a 58 per cent increase. Outremont was next highest, at 31 per cent.