What We Do For You

---

Benefits of Membership
How Assessment Works
What Our Members Say

The Commission

---

Members
History
Financial Statements
Bylaws/Regulations
Assessment Review Board

The Team

---

Assessors
Directors
Administrative Support
Contact Us

Updates

---

News
Upcoming Events

Bylaws/Regulations

The Commission is governed by The Municipal Government Act, Part 15.1 - Regional Services Commissions (Articles 602.01 through 602.50) and was formally established by Alberta Regulation 77/96 on April 24, 1996.

The Municipal Government Act legislates the responsibilities of the Commission’s Board of Directors, as well as various procedures for establishing bylaws, budgets, debt limits, financial reporting requirements, etc. The regulation and its subsequent amendments establish the member municipalities included in the Commission.

Bylaw No. 1/05

WHEREAS pursuant to the provisions of the Municipal Government Act, being Chapter M-26, Revised Statues of Alberta 2000 and amendments thereto (the “Act”), regarding Regional Services Commissions, the Board of the Commission must pass bylaws respecting the appointment of its Directors and the designation of its Chair, governing the fees to be charged by the Commission for services and may pass bylaws respecting the provision of the Commission’s services and the governance of the administration of the Commission;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT ENACTED as a bylaw of the Board of Directors of the Capital Region Assessment Services Commission as follows:

Definitions

1. “Board” means the Board of Directors of the Commission;
2. “Chair” means the chairperson of the Board;
3. “Commission” means the Capital Region Assessment Services Commission;
4. “Contractor” means the contracted assessors hired by the Commission to provide the assessment services;
5. “General Manager” means the contracted manager hired by the Commission to provide management and accounting services;
6. “General Meeting” means the general meeting of the members to be held in the fall of each year on a date and at a location to be determined by the Board;
7. “Member” and “Municipality” means a municipal authority listed in the Appendix to Alberta Regulation 77/96 and its amendments thereto;
8. “Regulation” means Alberta Regulation 77/96 and its amendments thereto;
9. “Service Year” means July 1st to June 30th.

• 1.0 Board of Directors

  • 1.1 Subject to Section 602.04 of the Act, the Board shall consist of the following:
    1. Five (5) representatives elected by the Members of whom shall be one from each of the following municipality types:
       • cities
       • towns
       • municipal districts/specialized municipalities
       • villages; and
       • summer villages
    2. In the event that one or more of the municipality types are not a member of the Commission, there will be no representation from that municipality type on the Board of Directors.
    3. In order to qualify to act as a Director, each representative of a Member must be a Councillor of that Municipality.
  • 1.2 The Directors will be elected at the Fall General Meeting immediately following municipal elections in the Province of Alberta.
  • 1.3 The Directors shall elect, from among their number, a Chair and Deputy Chair at the first meeting of the Board following the election of the Directors at the Fall General Meeting to coincide with the terms of municipal elections in the Province of Alberta.
  • 1.4 The term of office for any Director shall coincide with the terms of municipal elections in the Province of Alberta. In the event of a vacancy on the Board, the Board may appoint a replacement director from the same municipal type for the balance of the term of the Director.
  • 1.5 Duties of the Board:
  1. The Board shall be responsible for the governance of the Commission and shall conduct the affairs of the Commission and such other business as may be directed by the Members;
  2. The Board’s obligations to oversee the operations of the Commission shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
     1. to adopt a budget for the forthcoming year;
     2. to appoint signing authorities for all cheques, contracts and other documents on behalf of the commission;
     3. to appoint a financial auditor;
     4. to prepare and approve policies and procedures relating to the daily operations of the Commission;
     5. to procure and maintain all reasonable insurance policies against claims that may be made against the Commission for negligence or other liability in a commercially reasonable manner;
     6. to maintain the operations and service levels of the Commission in a manner beneficial to the Members;
     7. to cause to be kept proper books of account and records, and all such books of account and records together with all papers and other documents relating to the Commission shall be kept at the office of the General Manager and shall be open during reasonable business hours to the inspection and examination of every member of the Commission;
     8. to cause minutes to be made and books to be provided for the purpose of recording all Resolutions passed by and of all proceedings of any meeting of the Board or General Assembly and shall cause to be recorded the names of all persons present at such meeting to ensure that the requirements of the Act relating to the delivery of reports, financial statements and information to the members of the Commission or the Government of the Province of Alberta are met; and,
     9. to appoint a bank or banks as banker or bankers for the Commission.
  3. The Board, at its discretion may hire a General Manager to assist the Board in its obligations to the Commission. Reporting directly to the Board, the General Manager may be responsible for the daily operations of the Commission, including the selection process of Contractors, establishing and maintaining contractual agreements with the Contractors, maintenance of financial and other records, and any other services as directed by the Board.
  4. The Chair shall preside over all meetings of the Members and of the Board;
  5. In the absence of the Chair at any meeting; the Deputy Chair shall act as Chair of that meeting, failing which the Directors shall appoint a Chair for that meeting only;
  6. The Board shall meet as often as necessary to properly conduct the affairs of the Commission;
  7. The Chair or any three of the Directors may call a meeting of the Board upon no less than forty-eight (48) hours written notice;
  8. Meetings of the Board may be held in conjunction with, preceding or following any general meeting of the Commission;
  9. The agenda for all meetings of the Board and for meetings of the general assembly shall be prepared by the General Manager and approved by the Chair;
  10. Members of the Board, at the discretion of the Chair of the meeting, shall be entitled to speak more than once on any matter before the Board and the mover shall be entitled to close the debate on any matter;
  11. With respect to motion before the Board the following shall apply;
  1. General Motions – no seconder required;
  2. Referral or Deferral – debatable;
  3. Tabling – non-debatable;
  4. Amending – no seconder required;
  12. In the event that a question shall arise as to the rules of procedure to be followed at a meeting of the Board or General Assembly thereof, and if the procedure to be followed has not been otherwise dealt with by Bylaw of the Board, Roberts Rules of Order shall apply to such question as determined by the Chair.
  • 1.6 Three (3) directors at any Board meeting shall constitute a quorum.
  • 1.7 Subject to any policy established by the Board, the Directors shall receive a per diem rate for attendance at any Board meeting plus mileage, as specified in Schedule A hereto. The Directors shall receive remuneration, if any, for attendance at a General meeting from their respective municipalities.

  2.0 Purpose of the Commission

  • 2.1 The purpose of the Commission is set forth in Alberta Regulation 77/96 and its amendments thereto.

3.0 Terms and Conditions of Membership

• 3.1 Each Member agrees that the Commission shall, on behalf of the Member, contract the services of a fully qualified assessor to provide the assessment services specified hereto. The assessment services will be provided based on a Service Year defined as July 1st to June 30th. The Contractor’s workplans are set out in Schedule A of the Assessor’s Contract with the Commission and are attached hereto as Schedule B and form a part of these Bylaws.
• 3.2 Each Member may be represented at any general meetings of the Commission by an elected person appointed by resolution of the respective Council of the Member and each representative shall be entitled to one (1) vote on all matters put before the Members of the Commission. Proxy voting will not be allowed.
• 3.3 Each Member shall be required to pay the service fees established, from time to time, by the Board.

• 3.4 Upon inclusion of the municipal authority in the Capital Region Assessment Services Commission Regulation, by ministerial order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, the Member agrees to continuous, ongoing membership in the Commission.

• 3.5 Each Member agrees to provide their appointed Assessor with all necessary documents to complete the assessment services, including but not limited to, land-use bylaws and changes, subdivision plans including parcel sizes, compiled plan maps, zoning maps, property titles changes, land transfer documents, consolidation changes, building permits, and any other documents the Assessor may require. All assessment data, whether paper or electronic is deemed the property of the Municipality and shall remain in the sole ownership and control of the Municipality.

• 3.6 While membership in the Commission is continuous and ongoing, the Board recognizes the need to formally outline the terms of withdrawal from the Commission. A Member may only withdraw its membership in the Commission at the end of any given Service Year, specifically June 30th, by serving notice to the Commission prior to December 31 of the current service year.

  Upon withdrawal of membership, the Member and the Commission usually agree to the following terms of withdrawal and jointly agree to the deletion of the Member from the Capital Region Assessment Services Commission not later than June 30th of the service year prior to the service year in which the member municipality has chosen to withdraw from the Commission.

  1. The Member will not be entitled to any distribution or share of any assets of the Commission;
  2. The Member will be entitled to all files, records and documents respecting the assessment services which have been provided by the appointed Assessor to the Member;
  3. The Member will be responsible for payment of all monies owing for the Service Year in which membership is withdrawn, and
  4. The Member will pay its share of any debt and/or deficit in place as of June 30th of the Service year in which membership is withdrawn according to the most current audited financial statements.

• 3.7 A quorum of any meeting of the general assembly of the Commission shall be a majority of the Members.

• 3.8 One General Meeting of the Commission shall be held each year in the Fall.

• 3.9 At the Fall General Meeting, the Board shall present the audited financial statements, the current year to date financial statements, shall report on the activities of the past year to the Members, and shall present the anticipated costs of assessment services from the results of the tendering process, with the resultant budget and fee impact.

• 3.10 The order of business at any meeting of the Commission shall be in accordance with the Commission’s Policy and Procedures Manual, established by the Board, as it may exist from time to time.

• 3.11 The Member agrees to abide by any and all policies, procedures, terms and conditions of membership as may be amended from time to time.

4.0 Service Fees

• 4.1 The aggregate annual service fees charged by the Commission to its Members shall not be less than the estimated aggregate amount required to cover all costs of the Commission less any grants, transfers from reserves, interests, rents and other revenue.

• 4.2 All service fees shall be established by the Board.

• 5.0 Effective Date

• 5.1 This bylaw shall come into force and take effect after its third and final reading, and upon the date of subsequent Ministerial approval.

• 5.2 This bylaw shall rescind Bylaw 1/03 after its third and final reading, and upon the date of subsequent Ministerial approval.

• Schedule A: Board of Directors' Renumeration

  Per diem rate for attendance at Board meetings - $116.00 per day

  Per diem rate for attendance at Fall General Meetings - Responsibility of the Director’s Municipality

  Mileage, including GST shall be the per kilometer rate paid by the Government of Alberta to its employees as at April first of each year.

• Schedule B: Assessment Services

  1.0 Complete Valuation Update of the Assessment Roll Every Service Year:

  Conforming to all legislation and regulations established by the Government of the Province of Alberta governing the assessment of property, the Contractor will update all assessable property values to reflect overall market value shifts and adjustments for each Service Year, for all Municipalities in the Assessment Area, completed and submitted to each Municipality by the date specified by the Alberta Municipal Government Act and regulations thereto of each Service Year.

• 2.0 20% Selective Assessment Review:

  The Contractor will externally, visually inspect 20% of the assessable properties in the Assessment Area each Service Year. When the Contractor finds physical changes to a property’s exterior, then an internal inspection of the property will also be completed. Values assigned to external and internal changes will be incorporated into the property’s assessed figures that appear on the relevant Municipality’s Assessment Roll. At the rate of 20% per year, all assessable properties will receive at least one external visual inspection every five years. The Contractor will apprise the Municipality of the 20% area of the Municipality that is to be inspected in each year. This shall be done at the commencement of the Service Year.

• 3.0 Assessment Roll Supplied to Member Municipality:

  The Contractor will forward on copy of the completed Assessment Roll to each of the Municipalities in the Assessment Area, on or before the date specified by the Alberta Municipal Government Act or regulations in a format reasonably acceptable to the Commission. A Municipality may choose to receive this copy on a computer printout, diskette, CD or by e-mail.

  The Contractor will act as a coordinator for each Municipality to ensure that all aspects of the Municipality’s Assessment Roll, including linear and industrial assessments which may be done by other subcontractors specializing in these types of assessments, are included in the Municipality’s Assessment Roll.

• 4.0 Assessment Roll Update for Development Permits and New Subdivisions:

  The Contractor will review all building and renovation permits, demolition permits and other development and construction related information including new subdivision plans. The Contractor will ensure values assigned on the Municipality’s Assessment Roll accurately reflect the content of permits and other documents, as well as physical changes to properties.

• 5.0 Assessment Review Board:

  The Contractor will represent all Municipalities at appeals presented at Assessment Review Board hearings. The Contractor will provide comprehensive investigation of all assessment aspects relating to the appeals. The first eight (8) hours of the Contractor’s preparation and attendance at Assessment Review Board hearings is provided at no additional cost to the Commission, following which the Contractor will be compensated at the hourly rate as specified in Schedule B of the Assessor’s contract.

• 6.0 Municipal Government Board Hearings:

  At the request of the applicable municipality or the Commission, the Contractor will represent the municipality at appeals presented at Municipal Government Board hearings. The Contractor will be compensated at the hourly rate as specified in Schedule B of the Assessor’s contract.

• 7.0 Assessment Audit and Equalization Reports:

  The Contractor will complete and file the Assessment Audit and Equalization documents required by Alberta Municipal Affairs for all Municipalities by the date specified in the Alberta Municipal Government Act or regulations. This will include reconciliation of each Municipality’s assessment totals by category, analysis of sales information for different groups of properties and the establishment of ‘assessment to sales’ ratios, and any other data required by Alberta Municipal Affairs. Alberta Municipal Affairs uses this information to calculate the Municipality’s equalized assessment. The Contractor will provide the Municipality with a Summary of the Annual Assessment Audit in a similar format to that used by Alberta Municipal Affairs, as well as a copy of the “Municipality Form”, and the “Narrative Report” portions of the required audit data, at least 10 working days prior to the deadline established by Alberta Municipal Affairs, to allow the Municipality sufficient time to complete their Letter of Declaration. The Contractor will be available to the Municipality in October of each Service Year, if requested by the Municipality, to review the preliminary equalization figures established by Alberta Municipal Affairs, prior to the final figures being issued on November 1st of each Service Year. The Contractor will represent the Municipality at an appeal hearing, if the Municipality chooses to appeal the final equalization figures.

• 8.0 Municipality’s Parcel Count:

  Following completion of the assessment audit, the Contractor will determine the parcel count for each Municipality using the categories specified by the Commission for use in determining the fee schedule for each member. The Contractor will review the parcel count with each Municipality and obtain their written approval prior to submission to the Commission by January 31st of the Service Year.

• 9.0 Computerized Assessment Software Database:

  The Contractor will ensure that each Municipality’s assessment database is fully set up, maintained and updated on a computer software system. On or before the date specified by the Alberta Municipal Government Act or regulations, the Contractor will provide each Municipality with a back-up copy of their respective databases in a format acceptable to the Municipality. A Municipality may choose to receive this copy on a computer printout, diskette, or CD.

• 10.0 Open House Services/Council Meetings:

  Upon request by any Municipality, the Contractor will be required to be available for up to 7.5 hours to attend council meetings and open houses for taxpayers to explain property assessments during each Service Year. If more than 7.5 hours are required or the Municipality requests the presence of more than one assessor at an open house, any hours beyond 7.5 will be paid to the Contractor as specified in Schedule B of the Assessor’s Contract.

• 11.0 Supplementary Assessment During the Year:

  Upon request by any Municipality, the Contractor will provide a supplementary assessment to update the assessment roll for a partial year taxation. The Contractor will be paid for this service as specified in Schedule B of the Assessor’s Contract.

• 12.0 Business Revitalization Zone Assessments:

  Upon request by any Municipality, the Contractor will provide assessments for a Business Revitalization Zone. The Contractor will be paid for this service as specified in Schedule B of the Assessor’s Contract.

• 13.0 Extraordinary Service Requests:

  Upon request by any Municipality, the Contractor, at its sole discretion, may provide assessment services beyond the services described herein. The Contractor will provide the Municipality with a cost proposal for the services requested based on the rates as specified in Schedule B of the Assessor’s Contract and receive approval in writing from the Municipality to proceed prior to forwarding an Invoice to the Commission.

• 14.0 Progress Reports:

  The Contractor will keep the municipality apprised of the progress being made on all assessment related functions on a continuous basis.

Assesment Form

Assessment Inquiry Form

© Copyright 2011 Capital Region Assessment Services Commission