The AHLA advocates on behalf of members on many issues related to fair & positive regulatory environment for our industry.
Learn more about our key areas of focus:
Property taxes are determined through a tax assessment; a higher assessment means higher taxes.
Property assessments reflect the value of your property as of July 1 of the preceding year. In order to calculate your property assessment, assessors calculate your stabilized income over the past three years.
Key Dates
January-April: Assessment Notices Mailed Out
Municipalities mail out property assessments in January-February of each year. Customers have 60 days from the release date of the notice to review their property assessment, seek advice from experts and, when necessary, appeal their assessment.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you miss your municipality’s assessment complaint deadline, you will lose your right to raise your concerns when you receive your property tax bill in the spring.
June-August: Assessment Requests for Information
Each year, usually in June or July, municipal assessors mail out Assessment Requests for Information (ARFIs), which help them calculate your assessment.
IMPORTANT NOTE: You typically have 60 days to respond from the date of request. If you do not respond to the ARFI within the specified time period, you may lose your right to challenge the assessed value, which is critical if you believe your property taxes are too high!
October-November: Pre-Roll Period
“Pre-roll” is an informal, without prejudice, window of 30 days where assessment authorities offer hotel owners and their representatives an estimate of value for their upcoming assessment. At this point, the hotels’ representatives have an opportunity to consider the values, and if they are too high, they can have an additional conversation with the assessor in an attempt to lower the assessed value. As your property tax bill is based on your assessment, lowering your assessment lowers your property taxes.
If you wish to participate in the pre-roll in a given year, you must be authorized, which can take several weeks. It is recommended to apply for the pre-roll far in advance (i.e., August or September) by speaking with your property tax services provider.
Municipal Deferral Programs
Municipalities are required to balance the books every year, which means they cannot offer tax forgiveness to individuals or businesses. However, many municipalities have implemented a deferral program in light of COVID-19. Real estate services firm Altus Group is monitoring these deferral programs on their website.
If you have any property tax or assessment needs, you can call the Altus Group for personalized help:
Brock Ryan
Senior Director
Governments at all levels are grappling with the implications of the growing short-term rental industry. There is an acute need for federal, provincial and municipal governments to put in place a modern regulatory framework to address the stresses and unintended consequences created by short-term rentals.
Our Ask:
Provincially:
Municipally:
Federally:
Short-Term Online Rental Marketplace (STORM)
In 2017, the AHLA, in partnership with the Hotel Association of Canada, released a study that demonstrated that commercial operators were growing exponentially, far outpacing actual home-sharing activity.
The pandemic laid bare the failure of VLT commissions to keep pace with the rising costs of labour, utilities, and insurance. Increasing the commission paid to VLT retailers would have a significant impact on small and medium sized businesses in rural and remote areas of Alberta ability to maintain their operations. The Government of Saskatchewan recently enacted this same measure to support VLT retailers in the province and bring rates in line with other jurisdictions.
Our Ask:
Increase VLT Commissions paid to retailers from 15% to 18%.