Assessment agencies make mistakes, says Municipalities N.L.

While residents and city councillors in St. John's express concerns about rising property assessments, the head of Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador says there's been an increase of as much as 30 to 50 per cent in other parts of the province. 

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Karen Oldford told CBC's St. John's Morning Show that property assessments in Labrador were done during "years of the boom." 

As a result, Oldford, who's also mayor of Labrador City, said assessments have gone up there about 30 per cent. 

She said many homeowners are frustrated because the assessed value is much higher than the market value of their home. 

"The assessment agencies will say that the price that they point your house at, you should be able to sell for on the open market within 30 days, that would be their rule" Oldford said.

"But I guess it's not an exact science. They do the best they can with the tools that they have." 

Oldford said assessment agencies want residents to correct any errors that have been made. 

"For instance when some people have called here in the past, [the agency] thought they had a basement apartment which they did not have, so that would raise their taxes higher."

Residents have a 30 day window to appeal, from the time the assessment was mailed. 

"What evidence you can bring forward at the appeal, I'm sure if you had an appraisal from a real estate agent that would be helpful, but they look at the whole process all over again," she said. 

Oldford said property assessments are in no way tied to a municipality's need to balance its budget. 

"The problem that we have with property taxes is that it's about 70 to 75 per cent of our revenue in Newfoundland and Labrador and yet we have a $1 billion deficit in infrastructure."

One solution, she said, is to transfer a percentage of the HST to town councils. 

"That would give municipalities about another $88 million a year."

A one per cent increase in personal income tax is another option, "which would provide about $160 million more a year."

Oldford said cash-strapped municipalities need money for everything from drinking water to waste water treatment.