What is Property Assessment?

Property taxes are not arbitrarily levied on property owners; they are based on a principle known as "ad valorem", which means people pay taxes based on the value or wealth held in the property they own in any municipality.

Property assessment is not the same as property tax. The City of Meadow Lake uses property assessments as a basis for the fair distribution of taxes among property owners, and simply stated, property assessment is the process of determining a "fair value" for tax purposes.

Fair value is not market value; however, for most types of property it is close to average market values for the municipality or neighbourhood. The calculations used to determine fair value are based on the formulas, rules and regulations set out by Provincial Legislation and the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Association.

The City of Meadow Lake does not perform these assessments. Instead, we contract the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency (SAMA) to conduct this work.