Property assessment raises concerns for local small business owner – DiscoverMooseJaw.com

It’s a property reassessment year in Moose Jaw and when the results arrived in late March they raised some concerns for a local business owner. 

Aaron York is the owner of Reaper Fitness Group which operates CEO Fitness and Hustle Culture gym in Moose Jaw.  

He said that since moving into the building just under two years ago the assessed value of his property has ballooned to over double the purchase price when factoring in this year’s 41 per cent increase. 

“The assessment rate is showing that we are probably going to be paying another $700 to $800 per month in our property taxes,” York said, noting that sudden shift in business model was needed to account for the increase. 

“It’s a rough deal for the members who will then feel a lot of the extra costs as well as having to push more people into the gym, which we didn’t want to do. It’s going to ruin the overall member environment we have.” 

He explained that bringing in more members to cover the cost of the property tax increase also led to an increase in insurance rates, further impacting his business. 

“The more members we have, the more money we make, and the more insurance goes up as well. It’s kind of a never-ending cycle.” 

York plans on appealing the assessment and is bothered by the lack of information provided as to why his rates have jumped so much year over year. 

“There was just basically a new number that they’re assessing us at without any sort of explanation as to why,” York said. 

“We’re definitely going to have to appeal it. It’s a little frustrating that we have to spend over $600 to appeal something that feels like they’ve basically pulled a number out of thin air and decided to give us.” 

York mentioned that he would like to see more transparency about the process used to assess properties as the impact felt is detrimental to small businesses such as his. 

The Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency (SAMA) has been conducting the City’s property assessment functions since 2006. Kevin Groat, Managing Director of Assessment Services with SAMA, explained that assessments are just a part of the municipal taxation process, one that is independent from individual municipality’s tax policy and mill rate. 

“As far as the assessment goes, what I can say is that by and large, all the properties in the city of Moose Jaw are under what is called the ‘market value standard’, meaning that the assessments are based on their relationship to the market.” 

“What happens is once every four years we update the values according to provincial legislation to a new base state to keep them current. So (just) because you see an increase in your assessment doesn’t necessarily mean that in a revaluation year that it’s going to equate to an increase in taxes.” 

Groat said that there are steps that property owners can take through SAMA to appeal an assessment and broke down the process. 

“The appeal process starts with contacting our office and just having the discussion about your property with an appraiser to gain an understanding to see if there is any error, and at that point in time we can talk about property specifics.” Groat said. 

“If, after that discussion, the individual feels they want to appeal their property, then on the assessment notice there’s a form to fill out and it’s sent to the Board of Revision Secretary.” 

He explained that once the form is sent to the Board of Revision, the property owner will bring forward evidence that points towards any potential errors in the assessment, once the Board hears the case, decisions can be escalated to the provincial level if needed. 

Groat noted that if there were any physical mistakes SAMA would go forward with an Agreement to Adjust which would be signed off on to become an updated assessment for that year. 

SAMA received just under 50 calls to their office within the first week of the assessments going out, and while the number of appeals can vary year by year, the Agency stated that just over 60 appeals were filed in 2024. Of those appeals, nearly 40 per cent were resolved through an agreement to adjust between the municipality, property owner and assessment appraiser. Ten per cent of properties appealed saw value changes last year at the Board of Revision.   

Anyone with questions regarding their 2025 property assessments can contact SAMA’s local branch by calling 306-694-4425.