Frequently Asked Questions

A property’s value for taxation purposes is referred to as its assessed value.  A professional Assessor uses standards regulated by territorial legislation to assign one value to the actual land and another value to the improvements – the house, garage, office building, parkade, etc. – on that land.

In Yellowknife, land is assessed based on market value and takes factors like lot size, location, and zoning into consideration. 

Improvements are assessed based on typical depreciated replacement costs using guidelines regulated by the territorial government.  Factors like building type and size, quality of materials, and depreciation will affect the assessed value, but not items like fences, driveways, or landscaping.

The land and improvement values are added together to arrive at the total assessed value for the property.

Under a General Assessment, all properties are reassessed to reflect current market values for land and current depreciated replacement costs. Prior to the most recent General Assessment in 2018, assessed values were based on 2012 values; the 2018 General Assessment updated them based on 2017 values.

The City of Yellowknife conducts regular General Assessments to reflect factors such as market changes, inflation, and depreciation, and to ensure that new developments and property improvements are recognized.

This is an essential part of keeping assessed values current and reflective of the relative values of properties throughout the community, and helps support a reasonable and transparent method of distributing the responsibility for property taxation revenues.

Not necessarily.  A General Assessment tends to result in increases in most assessed values, especially in times of inflation. If the assessed value of your property increases proportionately with other properties used for the same general purpose, it is unlikely that your municipal property taxes will change significantly as a result of the General Assessment.  However, there have been instances where the market value of land has increased unevenly across the city, and properties with more significant land assessment increases have experienced increases in property taxes as a result of the General Assessment.  One of the reasons the City now conducts a general assessment every five years (rather than the minimum ten year stipulated in the legislation) is to temper these types of increases.

An increase in your property assessment value does not necessarily mean your taxes will go up.  

If the increase is the result of a substantial enhancement to that property – for example adding a garage – then it is likely that the taxes on that property will increase, reflecting the additional value of the enhancement. However, if the value increase is consistent with increases resulting from a General Assessment, it may not impact property taxes as it simply reflects an overall increase in assessed values across the community.

Annual mill rates also impact the amount of taxes levied on a property. Each year, Council sets a municipal mill rate for each property class to ensure that municipal property taxation raises the revenues required to provide the services and programs inherent in the City’s Budget. It is applied to the assessed value of your property to determine the amount of municipal property tax levied on your property. Council also sets a school tax mill rate that is applied to the assessed value of your property to calculate the amount of school tax to be levied on your property; the City collects this amount and passes it on to the appropriate school board(s). 

The City uses the assessed value of your property and the annual mill rates for the property class that reflects the use made of your property to determine your share of both municipal property taxes and school taxes.  The City retains the municipal property taxes to pay for the services and programs it provides, but passes on school tax revenues to the appropriate school board(s). 

Council approves a municipal tax increase when the assessment base does not grow enough to generate adequate property taxation revenues to cover the costs of services and programs provided by the City. It generally means property taxes will go up, on average by the amount of the tax increase. 

However, if the assessed value of your property does not increase as much as the values of similar properties, the increase in your tax levy may be less than the amount of the property tax increase approved by Council. Conversely, if you have added value to your property – by building a garage, for example – the increase in your tax levy may be greater than the increase approved by Council.

Assessment notices are mailed at the beginning of January each year to the current ratepayers on record. They reflect previous and current year assessment values for both the land and the improvements (buildings) on that land.

In Yellowknife, land is assessed based on market value and takes factors like lot size, location, and zoning into consideration. 

Improvements are assessed based on typical depreciated replacement costs using guidelines regulated by the territorial government.  Factors like building type and size, quality of materials, and depreciation will affect the assessed value, but not items like fences, driveways, or landscaping.

The land and improvement values are added together to arrive at the total assessed value for the property.

You can compare the assessed values of your property with other similar properties in your neighbourhood using the online City Explorer tool on the City’s website.  For land comparisons, ensure similarity of location, lot size and zoning. For building comparisons, ensure similarity of age, quality, style and size.

If you have questions about the assessed values assigned to your property, you are encouraged to compare them with other similar properties in your neighbourhood using the online City Explorer tool on the City’s website. For land comparisons, ensure similarity of location, lot size and zoning. For building comparisons, ensure similarity of age, quality, style and size.

You can also call 867-920-5625 or 867-920-5664 to speak to someone about the assessed values, or attend the Open House, which typically takes place in mid-January, to meet with the Assessor. 

If you wish to dispute the assessed values assigned to your property, you must file a complaint within 45 days of the mailing date noted on the assessment notice.  Factors that warrant filing a complaint include:

• Factual errors such as structure description, quality or property classification, size, depreciation, land zoning, etc.
• Differences between your assessment and similar properties in your neighbourhood.
• Errors in the School Support Declaration.