City assessors have started visiting homes around the community as part of the City of Airdrie’s annual cycle of re-inspections.
According to City Assessor Larry Laverty, the City re-inspects 20 per cent of residential properties each year. This year’s re-inspections are taking place between May and August.
“We try to do 20 per cent of the homes every year,” Laverty said.
“That ensures that somebody’s been to the property at least once every five years.”
Which homes are re-inspected is “based on which neighbourhoods have seen more renovations. There’s a cycle we go on.”
Approximately 2,000 homes will be re-inspected this year, according to Laverty.
“We have four staff working on this right now,” he said.
Staff will visit the homes to complete the re-inspections, although Laverty said this year the City is trying something new.
“This year we’re offering another service to our citizens because what we find is a lot of people are away during the day when we’re able to come,” he said. “We’re leaving a yellow card on the door that allows the citizens to go online and give us the information themselves.”
As part of the process, staff are looking for upgrades or improvements that have been made to the home that might impact its property tax assessment, according to Laverty. Taxes on the residence may or may not increase as a result of the re-inspection.
“It really depends on the property, what kind of work has been done on them,” he said.
“Obviously if a place has been completely renovated it’s worth more than it was before.”
Inspectors may take exterior photos of the home during the re-inspection.
Re-inspections of commercial and industrial properties in Airdrie are also taking place during this time frame of May to August.
Anyone wanting more information is encouraged to contact the City Assessment Department at 403-948-8855.
