Saskatoon conducts property reassessment, are you paying more or less in taxes?

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Property values have been reassessed in Saskatoon. Residents can inspect and appeal their assessments until the end of March.

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Residential property values have risen 13 per cent since 2021.

The city undergoes property reassessments every four years to update the distribution of property taxes.

Results from the reassessment also found commercial property values dropped by two per cent.

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According to the city, a property’s assessed value stems mostly from five factors: location, lot size, living area, age of the property and quality of construction.

The city noted that this assessment doesn’t mean owners will pay 13 per cent more in property taxes and businesses will pay two per cent less.

If a property’s reassessed value changed more or less than the average property value in its tax class, this could result in a change to its property taxes bill.

“The assessment process simply results in updated and more accurate property valuations. Tax policy decisions are then made, which typically smoothen the impacts of both positive and negative changes to all property owners,” city staff wrote in a report provided to media.

Changes in the property class differ among subgroups. For example: office (-17 per cent), retail (-10 per cent) and hotel/motel (-13 per cent) have decreased more in assessed values, while automotive (+19 per cent) and warehouse (+10 per cent) have increased in assessed values.

That range was seen in residential property subgroups as well; the largest average assessment value decrease by neighbourhood was seven per cent and the largest increase by neighbourhood was 22 per cent.

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The city stressed that changes in reassessment don’t mean increased tax revenue. The revaluation results in a revenue-neutral tax calculation between property classes.

Saskatchewan doesn’t tax properties at their full assessed value, instead setting a percentage of the assessed value that tax rates can be applied to based on the property class. According to the city, the percentage of value for residential properties is 80 per cent, and for commercial and industrial properties it’s set at 85 per cent.

Residents can find the current and previous assessed values for their properties on the city’s website, where a property assessment and tax tool provides a range of related information.

“Recognizing the complexity of assessment information for property owners, a dedicated communication plan was developed to support the 2025 reassessment. A collection of tools and tactics will assist property owners in understanding the city’s reassessment and appeal process and find additional information or assistance,” the city’s media package said.

Reassessment notices are sent out and the city has created videos that will be part of a social media campaign to help people understand assessment and tax-related information.

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The assessment roll is open for public inspection until March 28 to give property owners time to review their assessments, speak with an assessor and file a formal appeal if they wish.

Amended assessment notices will then be mailed out between March and April, and a tax policy report will be presented to city council.

Property tax notices will be sent out in May, and 2025 property tax payments will be due on June 30. Any supplementary assessment notices will be sent out between July and December.

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