The Town of St. Paul saw another year of growth in 2014, according to numbers presented on April 27 during the last regular town council meeting. In attendance to offer the update were Accurate Assessment representatives.
The Town of St. Paul saw another year of growth in 2014, according to numbers presented on April 27 during the last regular town council meeting.
In attendance to offer the update were Accurate Assessment representatives. A PowerPoint presentation was offered to council, comparing 2013 to 2014 numbers, and pointing to an eight per cent increase in residential assessments in 2014.
Overall, it was a “nice, strong year . . . residentially speaking,&” said Bob Daudelin, the regional assessment manager with Accurate Assessment Group.
Non-residential assessments decreased by one per cent, partially due to last year's assessment numbers being too high in some cases, since it was the assessment group's first time conducting assessments in St. Paul.
Overall, the town saw a two per cent increase in assessments, heard council.
The town has seen “good trends&” in the past three years, said Daudelin. Council was also told that although there was an increase in 2014, it appears that things are starting to level off.
The residential increase seen in 2014 also includes new construction, along with an increase in property values. That being said, the majority of St. Paul homeowners will not see an increase in their assessments.
However, a map showing some of the town's “hot spots&” was brought up, and showed that some residents living in the Mytrash subdivision could see their assessments increase, due to low assessments done last year.
Jesse Nelson, also with Accurate Assessment, was also on hand during the town council meeting. He noted that at this point, the group has assessed all St. Paul properties since it began working with the two a couple years ago, and will now assess properties on a four-year cycle.
“We wanted to reinspect every property,&” he said, adding, it would ensure “fairness and equity.&”
An open house is set to take place in June to allow property owners a chance to ask questions and voice concerns directly to Accurate Assessment, although a specific date has yet to be set.
“It's no secret that we had a lot of calls last year,&” said Daudelin, adding, “I will admit, I went in a little aggressive with these figures.&”
Although there were few residential owners complaining last year, there were a number of business owners who approached accurate assessment with complaints that their properties were assessed too high.
He added that hopefully this year, “things will be more quiet.&”
CAO Ron Boisvert asked Daudelin about a specific business on the west side of town that saw its assessment nearly cut in half. Daudelin said that after further inspecting the property and speaking with the owner, he realized there were some environmental issues that decreased the business' value.
Lakeland Poultry was also brought up, because the business closed its doors permanently, as of early April. Daudelin said he would work with the owners now since it is another unique situation.
When speaking of the current economic situation, Daudelin said that although he expects there to be some sort of change in St. Paul's market, it won't be as noticeable as communities that rely more heavily on oil and gas activity, such as Bonnyville or Drayton Valley.
When speaking of residential assessments, Daudelin said he could speculate St. Paul might see “a plateau or a drop of five per cent maybe,&” but he didn't expect anything bigger than that.
