When Theresa Spencer received her municipal tax notice recently, she couldn’t believe her eyes. It was up about 30 per cent, based on the assessed value of her mobile home, which magically had increased in value $14,000 since last year.
Angry and bewildered, Spencer started calling her neighbours. It was, she soon discovered, an epidemic.
“Ours went up $13,310 over last year,” says Glenda Lockyer.
Gloria Nagle was a bit better off.
“Mine didn’t go up quite as much,” she says. “Just $9,000.”
Sharla Brandle wasn’t so lucky. Her 1982 trailer – purchased for $30,000 six years ago – is suddenly worth $17,000 more than it was a year ago.
In fact, says Brandle, “it’s depreciated big time. Everything needs fixing.”
It turns out that the firm the Town of Slave Lake hired to do its property value assessments didn’t do a very good job. In fact Compass Assessment Consultants Inc. of Edmonton as much as admits they screwed up.
Compass assessor Kelly Larson told The Leader last week that her calculations were “skewed” by false comparisons. Assessments are largely determined by recent sale prices of similar properties. Trailer owners in West Side Village do not own the property their trailers sit on. Land tends to go up in value, but trailers as a rule don’t. Larson said the higher numbers for the West Side (and possibly others) trailers happened when they were “grouped with mobile homes on owned lots.” She said she lacked proper information at the time, but having since received better data, “there will be adjustments and amendments accordingly.”
Meanwhile, the Town of Slave Lake has been hearing plenty of complaints. Town Manager Jay Simons said last week that the Town has asked Compass Assessments for an explanation, “and we’re waiting for a response as well.”
Spencer has already received a response, but not a satisfactory one.
“They dropped mine $7,000, but $6,000 is still out of line,” she says. “We are certainly going to appeal it.” Spencer predicts massive appeals from her neighbourhood.
“Lord, there’s going to be a riot,” she says. “It’s just ridiculous what they’ve done.”

Copyright © 2000 The Lakeside Leader. All Rights Reserved.
No part may be reproduced without written permission.

View our Privacy Statement.
Send website suggestions to the Webmaster