WHEREAS Alberta Municipal Affairs has developed a partnership initiative with the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMDC) for the requirement of ASSET (Assessment Shared Services Environment) system to enhance the annual reporting of assessment and taxation information to the province; AND WHEREAS municipalities have enhanced their CAMA (Computerized Assisted Mass Appraisal) systems and financial reporting systems for the purpose of automating the reporting mechanisms to be used for January 31, 2004; AND WHEREAS municipalities have incurred extra costs for these enhancements of assessment software, enhanced hardware and human resources to meet the imposed deadline for implementing, testing and reporting functions of ASSET;AND WHEREAS municipalities historically had been reimbursed for some associated costs for conducting General Assessments through a General Assessment Grant;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties urge the Government of Alberta to fund municipalities for incurring additional costs for the purpose of implementing ASSET and that a fee for reimbursement be established at a minimum of one dollar per parcel.

The Province of Alberta has previously directed municipalities to install new property assessment system software that is commonly referred to as the ASSET Program. In general terms, the purpose for implementing this program is to ultimately provide an electronic interface that will lead to the province and all municipalities being able to exchange property assessment information via one common communications platform. The ASSET program is expected to provide mutual benefits to the province, as well as to all Alberta municipalities. Along with other municipalities, the Municipal District of Rocky View has incurred significant costs in order to install the ASSET program. While the types of costs incurred to date may vary somewhat from one municipality to the next, the majority are related to the time and effort municipal staff (and/or their contracted agents) have dedicated to install and test the ASSET program. Other costs will also be incurred by municipalities in the future to ensure that their ASSET systems are fully interfaced with the provinces ASSET program. With this resolution, Rocky View proposes that all municipalities receive a minimum of $1.00 per parcel (as recorded on each municipalitys assessment roll) as compensation from the province for a portion of the costs incurred to implement ASSET. Rocky View also recognizes that the $1.00 minimum per parcel should serve as a starting point for partially compensating municipalities for ASSET implementation costs. In addition to setting a minimum $1.00 per parcel unit rate that is outlined in the resolution (Example A), Rocky Views intent is to have the province recognize that economies of scale associated with parcel counts should be taken into consideration in conjunction with providing compensation. Those municipalities with higher parcel counts can spread their ASSET fixed and variable costs over a larger number of parcels. Accordingly, they could receive compensation at lower per-parcel unit rates than the unit rates applied to provide compensation to municipalities with fewer parcels. In addition to the minimum $1.00 per parcel alternative included in the resolution, Rocky View has developed two other alternatives (Example B & Example C) that could be presented to the province. These two alternatives are based on the following Parcel Count Index:For municipalities with assessment parcel counts of 100,001 or more $1.00 per parcel” ” ” ” ” ” of 50,001 – 100,000 $1.25 per parcel” ” ” ” ” ” of 25,001 – 50,000 $1.50 per parcel” ” ” ” ” ” of 15,001 – 25,000 $1.75 per parcel” ” ” ” ” ” of 10,001 – 15,000 $2.00 per parcel” ” ” ” ” ” of 5,001 – 10,000 $2.25 per parcel” ” ” ” ” ” of 1 – 5,000 $2.50 per parcelWith Example B, referred to as the Ceiling Rate Model, a municipality would receive the per-parcel rate on the index which is referenced to the total number of parcels on its assessment roll. A municipality with 18,000 parcels on its roll would qualify for $31,500 in compensation (based on 18,000 parcels x $1.75 per parcel).With Example C, referred to as the Tiered Rate Model, a municipality would receive the per-parcel rate which is referenced to each tier of the index up to the point where the total number of parcels on its assessment roll is attained. A municipality with 18,000 parcels on its roll would qualify for $39,000 in compensation (based on the first 5,000 parcels x $2.50 + the second 5,000 parcels x $2.25 + the third 5,000 parcels x $2.00 + the remaining 3,000 parcels x $1.75).For all municipalities, the Tiered Rate alternative related to Example C provides more compensation than would be available under the minimum $1.00 Rate alternative (Example A) and the Ceiling Rate (Example B). Municipalities may wish to modify the resolution so that, in addition to referring to the minimum $1.00 Rate, it includes references to the Tiered Rate (Example C) and the Ceiling Rate (Example B). The attached compensation table outlines the amounts of compensation municipalities would receive under each of the three alternatives described above. It includes amounts for parcel counts in increments of 2,500. Rocky View wishes to extend its thanks and appreciation to all Alberta municipalities and to the province for giving their consideration to this resolution and the three related compensation alternatives. To obtain additional information regarding the purpose for the Resolution, please contact John Rop or Ted Boyda at (403) 230-1401.