Property assessments

by Zenith Wolfe

As property assessment values increase significantly for taxpayers in MRC des Collines municipalities, the MRC prefect says property owners are contesting their values more often.

In 2024 property assessments increased around 49 per cent for Chelsea residents and around 70 per cent in l’Ange-Gardien, according to MRC Prefect Marc Carrière. That trend is continuing this year, with Cantley and La Pêche property assessments increasing around 50 per cent.

The prefect says this is likely because of how the pandemic impacted property sales. Assessors have to compare the current sale prices to the sale prices from 18 months prior, meaning 2022 – in the midst of the pandemic – prices were the point of comparison for 2024 assessments in Chelsea, Val-des-Monts and l’Ange-Gardien.

“Everyone was looking to go to rural areas [in 2022]. There’s also a lack of housing, so that’s another pressure on the market,” Carrière says.

This year, the MRC is evaluating properties in Cantley and La Pêche. If property owners want to revise their assessments, Carrière says there are a few steps to take.

The first is to call the MRC’s property assessment services number (819-827-0516, ext. 2239) and leave a brief voicemail explaining what should be re-evaluated. Carrière says they received around 800 of these service calls from Chelsea, Val-des-Monts and l’Ange-Gardien in 2024, with 87 of them ending in a revision. This is up from 63 revisions in 2021 and 85 revisions in 2018.

“Maybe the market was slower in the middle of the pandemic,” Carrière says when asked about this increase.

The prefect says callers should also mention their municipality, address and phone number. The MRC will call back within 15 business days and discuss a revision, free of charge. The MRC may decide to send a representative to visit the property in March 2025 and propose a new property value.

If a property owner disagrees with the proposed value, or if there is none, Carrière suggests submitting a Request for Assessment Review form to the MRC before April 30.

Carrière says they processed around 120 of these forms for Chelsea, Val-des-Monts and l’Ange-Gardien properties in 2024, up from 20 in 2021 and 59 in 2018. François Lanthier, assistant director for the MRC, said around 60 per cent of property owners in these municipalities who submitted forms got a lower assessment value.

Submitting this form requires paying a fee based on the assessment value of the property:

$88 below $500,000

$355 between $500,001 and $2M

$591 between $2M and $5M

 $1,183 above $5M

Lanthier recommends that property owners include information about defects, planned renovations and estimates for planned work on their forms so the MRC can make informed decisions. 

Lanthier adds that property owners should make arguments based on the sale values of properties on the market.

“People tend, usually, to look at neighbours’ assessment values and view their analyses based on that, but we’ll look at the sales comparables on the market and compare them with the property for the fairest value,” he explains.

Property owners who submit these forms can expect to hear from the MRC by Sept. 1. They must write back to accept the new value within 30 days. Lanthier adds that property owners submitting these forms should still pay their taxes for the higher property value so they’re not charged for interest.

“Pay the taxes,” Lanthier says. “If you get a new value, the municipality will reimburse you, but if you don’t pay and you don’t get a proposition, we don’t have control over the taxation.”

The last option for re-evaluation is to bring a case before the Administrative Tribunal of Quebec. Carrière said this is the slowest process of the three, but it’s usually resolved in a year. In 2024 there were 14 requests for tribunal cases – most submitted by the same property owner. There was only one request in 2021 and three in 2018.

Lanthier says only seven cases across the MRC have gone to tribunal since 2017. The MRC won around half and made deals with the property owner out of court for the other half, he says.

Neither MRC representative could give an estimate for how much this step costs, since it varies greatly based on the property.