Eye in the sky speeds up property reassessments across New Brunswick

New Brunswick plans to reassess more than 464,000 properties, often using high-resolution pictures taken from airplanes that began flying over the province two years ago.

The data collected is called pictometry imagery, and it allows property assessments to be done from the comfort of a Service New Brunswick office.

An assesor can use the data to measure square footage and distances by computer.

Rene Landry, director of modernization for the province's property assessment services, said the new method is being implemented to try to keep assessments closer to actual market value.

"Reinspection cycles used to be conducted every eight to 10 years or when a property was sold," he said.

"Significant changes to property may occur in this time frame resulting in spikes in assessed values. Now, going forward, (the department) aims to reinspect property every two years in urban areas, every four years in rural areas."

Landry said some key factors in determining the value of property are the location, size, age, the way it is maintained, and the addition of buildings, such as a garage, or improvements, such as a finished basement.

In Moncton, the changes will mean an increase in what many people are paying at tax time.

John Martin, the city's chief financial officer, said that when he presented the 2017 budget, he was told by the province to expect an increase in assessment revenue between three and four per cent.

"It's great news for the city and its an initiative of the provincial government."

"They realized we were probably missing out on opportunities for assessment growth, they looked at things like what's going on in markets and neighbourhoods, doing the flyovers, doing a lot of the statistical analysis."

Martin said that based on the estimate, Moncton is expecting to bring in an additional $4.2 million next year. He figured that to equal about $91 per household.

Property assessments can by viewed online at the Service New Brunswick website.

Landry said it's there to give homeowners an idea of what other properties in the neighbourhood are valued at, as well as how much they are selling for.

"The real test for property owners comes in March, when they compare the assessed value of their properties to what they could expect to sell it for on the open market," he said.

"Pictometry allows us to reduce the reinspection cycles and get much closer to what the market is actually reflecting."