Within the next couple of days, residents should find a newly formatted 2022 Property Assessment notice in their mailbox.

City of Swift Current Assessor, Michael Kehler says that they reformatted the notices because they wanted to reorganize and create a logical flow of information.

Kehler provides details on one of the new changes to the notices.

"One of the things that we didn't have on our previous assessment notices was historic content and we wanted to add a quick reference to the previous assessment for property owners because that's the inquiry that we get the most. Property owners will ask us "is this the same as last year?" and we will have to actually look it up. Now the property owner has it right at their fingertips."

Property owners are encouraged to read through the assessment thoroughly, ensuring personal information is correct as well as their school support. Property owners also have the option to designate public or separate schools should they choose to. 

If necessary property owners can embark on an appeal process as Kehler explains.

"There's a review period for property owners to inspect their assessment notice to make sure that everything is correct and to contact us and that is up until the end of the period to appeal which is April 27th."

Kehler adds that there are a number of things that property owners can appeal, however, the majority of appeals received are to the assessment value. He says that in some cases its a matter of when speaking with the property owner and looking at the property and the data in the system, they can note a discrepancy between what's actually there and what the records have. By changing that area in the system, Kehler says they can send out a revised notice to the property owner and save them the effort of an appeal. 

Other new features to this year's assessments include an explanation guide on the back along with a QR code which when scanned takes the property owner to relevant information on the city's website.