Assessment appeals need fair handling

After reading the article “Raising awareness of Lethbridge” in the Nov. 17 paper, we decided to follow up our letter of Oct. 5 over the decision the Lethbridge Assessment Review Board gave us on our appeal.

The mayor states their strategic planning process is “to articulate issues, concerns or values important to us individually as well as those we heard during the election campaign from Lethbridge residents.” It would be great to believe that as a taxpayer, our concerns and issues are treated in a fair and equitable manner.

The denial letter received from the LARB presiding office, T. Hudson, states that there was no evidence to confirm that the improvements made in 1996 were included in the assessment prior to site inspection on June 2016. However, this is not true as the City Assessment Branch gave us copies of the 2015 assessment (July 2014) which lists the increased footage and basement full bath and basement finish (all areas) rooms. The assessor confirmed in his letter of Aug. 17, 2017 that the increase of $27,800 was because the 1996 renovations had not been previously assessed. What is the truth and does the taxpayer not have the right to get an answer to this discrepancy, as it is an important one. The officer totally ignored the facts on the 2015 assessment.

The second reason the officer gave was that the sales and assessment of similar properties in our neighbourhood indicated the market value to be fair and equitable. We could not and the Assessment Branch could not produce any properties to compare with. How can a taxpayer dispute or appeal issues or feel confident dealing with the City when issues like this are not handled fairly?

We, like many other residents, understand what it is like dealing with government issues, so if the Assessment Branch requests an assessment of your property, a suggestion is to request a copy of your previous assessment, get it notarized, be prepared and hire a lawyer!

Hope the new councillors get an input into the mayor’s strategic planning and make a difference!

Derek and Mary Anne Bennett

Lethbridge