Visit, Assessment Inquiries to receive more information about your property assessment.
As per 284.2 of the Municipal Government Act, Council is required to appoint, through resolution an independent third-party assessor for the County. Currently, the assessment function is contracted to Accurate Assessment Group (AAG), who performs all facets of the annual assessment process. AAG, as a qualified professional organization, ensures the County assessment base is fair, equitable and prepared as required through Provincial Legislation.
Accurate Assessment Group welcomes any questions regarding the assessment of your property.
Troy Birtles, Assessor
Email: troy@aag-gis.com
Assessment General Overview
The County’s assessment department is responsible for the assessments of all residential, commercial, industrial and farmland properties located within Woodlands County.
Alberta Municipal Affairs is responsible for the assessment of linear properties which include, oil & gas wells, pipelines power lines, telecommunication systems. Although a property is classed as linear, and assessed by the Province, surface equipment, for this asset is assessed by the County’s contracted assessor.
Woodlands County has implemented market value assessments, as required by the Municipal Government Act and associated regulations. Market value assessments are used for residential and non-residential properties. Annually prepared assessment data is used as a means of distributing taxes among properties within Alberta municipalities.
Residential and Non-Residential Property Assessment
Physical condition of the property on December 31st and market value on July 1st of the preceding year are taken into consideration when assessing residential and non-residential properties. Once the assessor has gathered all pertinent information on your property, they may compare the values generated through open market sales, to confirm their data is aligned with current activity. Assessment of the property includes land and land improvements but does not include any personal belongings.
Farm Properties / Farmland Assessment
Farmland assessment values are not assessed at market value, but rather through values regulated by the Province. There are many characteristics that are taken into consideration to determine the values, some common ones are depth, soil type (black, dark grey), stones, topography, and topsoil.
Also, as regulated by the province, farm buildings, such as barns, granaries, and garages are not assessable and therefore are not factored in or used in determining the total assessed value of the farm.
Farm residences are assessed at market value, as are the first 3 acres encompassing the building site. While assessed at market value, prior to finalizing the assessed value, the residence is given an exemption based on the assessed value of all the farmland in the owner’s “farm unit.”
In this example the residence is located on Quarter #3.
Item | Description | Assessment |
Residence | Market Value Assessment | $100,000 |
|
|
|
Quarter #1 | Farmland | $18,000 |
Quarter #2 | Farmland | $13,500 |
Quarter #3 | Farmland | $15,200 |
Total | Farmland Assessment | $46,700 |
|
|
|
3 Acre Site | Assessment | $30,000 |
To determine the exemption given to Residential Market Value Assessment:
Residence | Market Value Assessment | $100,000 |
Less: Total | Farmland Assessment | $ 46,700 |
Equals: Farmland Unit | Residence Assessment | $ 53,300 |
Assessment for Quarter #3
Quarter #3 | Farmland Assessment | $15,200 |
3 Acre Site | Assessment | $30,000 |
Residence | MV – Farmland Assessment | $53,300 |
Total Assessment | Used for Calculating Taxes | $98,500 |
Industrial Property Assessment (Machinery & Equipment)
Examples of industrial properties include compressor stations, dehydrator packages, gas plants, sawmills, separator packages. Industrial operations classified as small, are assessed using the Provincial Machinery and Equipment assessment manual. Industrial assets identified as large properties are assessed using installation costs which have been adjusted for certain non-assessable costs. Determination of small or large would be done through legislated means.