Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between "assessment" and "tax"?
Assessment is the process used to determine the estimated market value of a property for taxation purposes (“assessed value”). The tax payable on each property is levied in proportion to its assessed value relative to the assessed values of all other properties in the tax base. Tax rates are set in an amount per $1,000 of assessed value, or a “mill rate”, which is higher on commercial than residential properties.
A complaint can only be filed on your assessed value, not your taxes.
Do I have to pay my taxes if I have filed a complaint?
Yes. Otherwise, you will incur penalties for non-payment of taxes.
How do I file a complaint online?
Use ePortal to file complaints, manage and view the status of complaints, access hearing information, request postponements, submit withdrawals, and access ARB decisions.
Where can I find information to prepare for the hearing?
Refer to information on the complaint process within this website. Assessment information is available at http://assessmentsearch.calgary.ca.
Where can I get help regarding my assessment, tax, local improvement, mobile home inquiries, or name, address, and school support changes?
Contact the Assessment and Tax Business Unit’s customer service centre at (403) 268-CITY (2489)
What if I do not want to proceed with my submitted complaint?
You may withdraw your complaint by contacting the ARB in writing (via ePortal, email, or hard copy) at least 3 days in advance of the scheduled hearing.
Will my filing fee be refunded?
Your filing fee is refunded if the Board decides in your favour, or if you come to a signed agreement with the Assessment and Tax Business Unit.
What if I need to reschedule my complaint?
If you receive a Notice of Hearing and wish to change the hearing date, contact the ARB at (403) 268-5858 immediately to reschedule. If disclosure deadlines have already passed, you may need to apply for a postponement, which may be made through the ePortal, emailed to info@calgaryarb.ca, or submitted by hard copy. Regulations state this may only be granted by the General Chair of the ARB if there are exceptional circumstances. A postponement request must be submitted well in advance of the scheduled hearing. You will receive a written response from the General Chair of the board indicating whether the request has been granted or denied.
What if I disagree with the Board's decision?
Both you and the Assessment and Tax Business Unit have the right to apply to the Court of King's Bench for judicial review of the ARB decision. An application must be filed with the Court of King's Bench no later than 60 days after the date of the decision of the ARB. Judicial reviews of the Boards’ decisions are governed by section 470 of the Municipal Government Act. As a general rule, the court reviews ARB decisions based on reasonableness regarding questions of fact and correctness on questions of law and jurisdiction. You may be responsible for costs if the application is unsuccessful. No new evidence may be submitted in the application for judicial review.
If you are considering an application to the Court of King's Bench, it is recommended that you consult legal counsel. The ARB staff are not able to offer any legal advice, suggestions, or guidance with respect to such inquiries.
What is my filing fee?
Your filing fee is set by bylaw. Complaint fee for residential properties with 3 or fewer dwellings and farmland is $50 (or $40 if filed before January 31). Complaint fee for residential with 4 or more dwellings and non-residential properties is $650. Residential condominiums are treated as individual residential properties and thus pay the lower rate.
What if I receive a Notice of Rejection?
A Notice of Rejection means your complaint has been found to be invalid because it did not meet legislative requirements. Any previously submitted documents related to your complaint will be returned to you with your Notice of Rejection.
Common reasons for rejection are:
- filing a complaint after the complaint deadline shown on your assessment notice;
- filing a complaint without the filing fee amount shown on your assessment notice; or
- incomplete information on your Complaint Form.
If you feel you have improperly received a Notice of Rejection, you may submit a written request to the ARB for a jurisdictional hearing.
Filing fees submitted to the ARB prior to your receiving a Notice of Rejection will be refunded to you within 45 days. If you have applied for a jurisdictional hearing, your filing fee will only be returned if you have favorable outcomes on both your jurisdictional and subsequent assessment complaint hearings.
What is a jurisdictional hearing?
A jurisdictional hearing is held to determine whether the Board can hear your assessment complaint. It deals solely with whether the Notice of Rejection will be upheld and does not address the merits of your complaint.
A decision will be rendered and sent to you within 30 days of the jurisdictional hearing. If the Board decides in your favour, a merit hearing will be scheduled. You will receive a new notice of hearing for your original assessment complaint.
What if I cannot see my complaint when I log into the evidence disclosure portal?
Make sure your myID account uses the same email address you used to register with ePortal. Using the same email address is required to ensure that your complaint information from ePortal appears properly in the evidence disclosure portal.
If your myID account email address is different than the one used to log in to ePortal, go to the Account tab in myID, click on “edit profile”, and change your email address to match your ePortal email address.
How do I get a myID account?
Please register here for a myID account. When registering, you need to use the same email address you filed your complaint with on ePortal.
How do I know that my evidence is submitted successfully using the evidence disclosure portal?
Once evidence is submitted, users will receive an email notification confirming receipt.
What if I did not receive an email notification confirming receipt of my disclosure?
Check your spam email folder. Alternatively, you can whitelist ARBEvidenceDisclosurePortal@services.calgary.ca
What should I do if I get an error saying my file is too large?
The maximum file size is 250MB. You will need to either compress your file or break-up your file into smaller parts so that it does not exceed 250MB.
What file formats does the Electronic Evidence Portal support?
- Bitmap Image File (.bmp)
- Comma-Separated Values File (.csv)
- Graphical Interchange Format File (.gif)
- JPEG Image (.jpeg)
- JPEG Image (.jpg)
- Microsoft Excel Document (.xls)
- Microsoft Excel Open XML Document (.xlsx)
- Microsoft Word Document (.doc)
- Microsoft Word Open XML Document (.docx)
- Plain Text File (.txt)
- Portable Document Format File (.pdf)
- Portable Network Graphic (.png)
- PowerPoint Open XML Presentation (.pptx)
- PowerPoint Presentation (.ppt)
- Rich Text Format (.rtf)
Why do I get an error message when I am submitting evidence in evidence disclosure portal?
Please review the preferred web browsers on the log in page and make sure you are using one of the preferred browsers.
I used the electronic disclosure portal to submit my evidence, do I need to submit it anywhere else?
If you submitted via the evidence disclosure portal, you do not need to submit it to any other party.
Can I submit a link or URL as evidence?
No, a link or URL is not considered evidence and will not be considered by the Board. Please put the target content of a link or URL into a Word document or PDF document.
Groups
Can my complaint be heard together with another complaint?
Yes. A request for grouping can be made in the scheduling considerations section when filing a complaint through ePortal or can be attached to the initial Complaint Form. You can also email in the grouping request to info@calgaryarb.ca.
How do I save a group of complaints?
If you have more than one complaint you will be able to use the grouping function. Select all complaints you wish to group and click “Add to Group”. From this screen you can save your group. To navigate back to the saved group, at the top of the menu, click on the “Groups” icon and navigate to saved Groups.
How can I submit the same evidence to multiple complaints?
You will need to create a grouping of complaints.
On the main grid screen, select all the complaints you wish to group together by using the checkboxes and click “Add to Group”. From this screen you can attach disclosures to the entire group. You can also save your group if you wish to navigate back to the same grouping of complaints later.
I am trying to create a new group of complaints, but it keeps adding them to my existing group.
You will need to close your current group you are working on before you can create a new group. Click on the “Groups” icon at the top menu and select “Close Current Group”.
Once I have created a group, how do I add more complaints to this group?
While viewing a group, you can either click on “Add more complaint(s)” and select additional complaints or you can use the “Add by” tool at the top of the screen to add in more complaints.
When I export items to Microsoft Excel, why does it include all my complaints instead of just my selected complaints?
The export function is designed to export all items to Excel.
Why do I keep getting an error when I try to add a complaint to a group?
If you are receiving an error, you have either added the same file number into the group and therefore it is showing as a duplicate, OR a complaint is in “read-only” status.
What does the red box by the “Groups” icon denote?
This box will show up once a group is opened. The first number in the red box shows how many complaints are in that group. The second number shows how many disclosures have been attached to that group that are not yet submitted.
For example, 5 | 2 means there are 5 files in the group and 2 disclosures uploaded, waiting to be submitted.
What does the read-only status mean?
Complaints are read-only if they have already been heard by the board and are waiting for a decision by the board.
What does the update button do?
The update button allows the user to resubmit a document if they have made a revision. The original document still forms part of the board’s record and will be included in all the submissions. Panel members will have access to all documents; however, any revised documents will be in an addendum and will be referenced if requested/necessary.