What is ePortal and how do I file a complaint online?
ePortal is the public online filing system designed to help users file complaints, manage and view the up-to-date status of their assessment complaints, access hearing information, request postponements, submit withdrawals, and access your Assessment Review Board decision.
Should I pay my taxes even if I have filed a complaint?
Yes, to avoid penalties imposed for the non-payment of taxes, you must pay by the due date. Penalties will be applied against unpaid accounts in accordance with municipal bylaws and are not waived due to the filing of a complaint.
What if I want my complaint to be heard together with another complaint?
Property owners may file multiple complaints and wish them to be heard together as a group. A request for grouping can be made in the Scheduling Considerations section when filing a complaint through ePortal, or can be attached to the initial complaint form. You can also email in the grouping request to info@calgaryarb.ca.
Where can I find information to prepare for the hearing
You may refer to information on the Complaint Process on this website. Assessment information is available at assessmentsearch.calgary.ca.
Where can I get further assistance if I want to discuss my assessment, tax, local improvement, mobile home inquiries and/or name, address or school support changes?
Questions on assessment should be forwarded to the Assessment business unit’s customer service centre. Tax questions on items such as local improvements, mobile home inquiries and/ or school support changes should be directed to Property Tax or call 3-1-1. Name or mailing address changes should be directed to the Province of Alberta Land Titles Office.
What if I need to reschedule my complaint?
After a hearing is scheduled for your complaint, you will receive a Notice of Hearing that lists the hearing date and disclosure deadlines. If you need to reschedule due to exceptional circumstances, a postponement request can be made through ePortal, emailed to info@calgaryarb.ca, or submitted by hard copy. You must submit your request well in advance of the scheduled hearing. You will receive a written response from the General Chair of the Board indicating whether the request has been granted or denied.
What are my options to have my complaint heard?
Four hearing formats are offered: in-person hearings, videoconference hearings, teleconference hearings and written hearings.
Written Hearings: Parties will not appear before the ARB. The ARB will issue its decision based solely on its review of the written evidence and submissions provided by the parties. Parties who elect to have a written hearing must provide written consent to the ARB. You may request that your Complaint be scheduled for a Written Hearing by sending an e-mail to the Assessment Review Board (info@calgaryarb.ca) which includes the property Roll Number(s) under complaint, and indicating your request to have your complaint decided through a Written Hearing.
Teleconference Hearings: Parties will appear before the ARB by way of a telephone conference call to present their evidence as well as oral submissions and argument. Teleconference hearings will allow for oral presentations and questioning by both parties and the ARB.Teleconference Hearings: Parties will appear before the ARB by way of a telephone conference call to present their evidence as well as oral submissions and argument. Teleconference hearings will allow for oral presentations and questioning by both parties and the ARB. Videoconference Hearings: Parties will appear before the ARB by way of a videoconference call on Microsoft Teams to present their evidence as well as oral submissions and argument. All parties and the ARB panel members will be visible on camera. Videoconference hearings will allow for oral presentations and questioning by both parties and the panel.
In-Person Hearings: Parties will appear before the ARB in a hearing room at 1212 – 31 Avenue NE to present their evidence as well as oral submissions and argument. In-person hearings will allow for oral presentations and questioning by both parties and the panel.
What if I do not want to proceed with my submitted complaint?
You may withdraw your complaint by contacting the Assessment Review Board in writing (via ePortal, email, or hard copy) at least three days in advance of the scheduled hearing.
Will my filing fee be refunded?
Your filing fee is refunded if the Board decides in your favour, or if you come to a signed agreement with the Assessment business unit regarding any changes to your assessment that will resolve your complaint.
What if I disagree with the Board's decision?
Both you and The Assessment Business Unit have the right to apply to the Court of King's Bench for judicial review of the ARB decision. An application must be filed with the Court of King's Bench no more than 60 days after the date of the decision of the ARB. Judicial reviews of the Board’s decisions are governed by section 470 of the Municipal Government Act.
If you are considering an application to the Court of King's Bench it is recommended that you consult legal counsel. The ARB staff are not able to offer any legal advice, suggestions, or guidance with respect to such inquiries.
What is the legislation governing the Assessment Review Board?
The legislation governing the Assessment Review Board is contained in the revised Part 11 of the Municipal Government Act and Alberta Regulation 201/2017 – Matters Relating to Assessment Complaints Regulation, 2018 which legislates the procedures that complainants must adhere to after a complaint has been filed. Failure to comply with the legislation and related City bylaws may result in your complaint being deemed invalid.
What is the relationship between "tax" and "assessment"?
Too often, the terms "assessment" and "taxation" are considered to be interchangeable. However, assessment and taxation are very different. Although one impacts the other, each is a distinct and independent process. Assessment is the process of placing a dollar value on a property for taxation purposes. This value is used as the base for determining the distribution of taxes across both properties and businesses. Taxation is the process of applying a tax rate to a property's assessed value to determine the taxes payable by the owner of the property or business. That being said, you cannot file a complaint about your taxes, only your assessment.
What is the difference between the Assessment Review Board (ARB), Local Assessment Review Board (LARB) and Composite Assessment Review Board (CARB)?
All complaints submitted to the ARB will be heard by panel of board members, either a CARB or a LARB, as indicated on your Notice of Hearing.
The CARB panels have at least two members appointed by the municipality and one member is appointed by the Minister of Municipal Affairs. These panels hear complaints about residential property with four or more dwelling units, non-residential property, and a designated officer’s decision to refuse to grant full or partial tax exemption or tax deferral for brownfield properties in the city of Calgary.
The LARB members are appointed by the municipality to hear assessment complaints about farmland, residential property with up to three dwelling units, business assessment complaints, and local improvements.
How is my filing fee determined?
Your filing fee is indicated on your Assessment Notice. Complaint fees for all residential properties with 3 or fewer dwellings and farm land is $50. Complaint fees for all residential with 4 or more dwellings and non-residential properties is $650.
To serve the public better, residential owners now have a lower filing fee of $40 if they file their complaint on or before January 31 of each year. Properties that qualify for this early filing rate are residential dwellings with 3 or fewer units, and farm land.
Where can I find information about property taxes?
The City of Calgary offers a variety of property tax payment options to pay directly to The City or through your bank. Please visit the City of Calgary Property Tax Payment page for more information.
Can I receive financial assistance in paying my property taxes?
If you are a residential property owner experiencing financial hardship, regardless of age, you may be eligible for a credit/grant of the increase on your property tax account. For more information, please visit the City of Calgary Property Tax Assistance Program page.
I received a Notice of Rejection, what steps can I take?
If you fail to meet any of the legislated requirements for submitting a formal complaint to the ARB, your complaint will be deemed invalid and rejected by the Board. As a result, copies of any previously submitted documents related to your complaint will be returned to you, along with a Notice of Rejection letter explaining why your complaint was rejected.
The most commons reasons for rejection are:
filing a complaint after the complaint deadline shown on your assessment notice
filing a complaint without the filing fee amount shown on your assessment notice
Incomplete information on your complaint form
If you receive a Notice of Rejection letter but still feel the ARB has jurisdiction and should hear your complaint, you may then submit a written request to the ARB for a jurisdictional hearing.
Any filing fees submitted to the ARB prior to rejection will be refunded to you 45 days after you receive your Notice of Rejection letter. However, if you make a request for jurisdictional hearing, your filing fee is forfeited and will only be returned if you have favourable outcomes in both your jurisdictional and subsequent assessment complaint hearings.
What is a jurisdictional hearing?
A jurisdictional hearing is a hearing that takes place to determine whether or not the Board can hear your assessment complaint. At the jurisdictional hearing, you will not be permitted to speak to any concerns you may have about your assessment. At the jurisdictional hearing you should focus your arguments on why the ARB should allow your complaint.
As the Complainant, you must disclose all information that you will be presenting at the jurisdictional hearing by the deadline indicated on the Notice of Hearing. Your disclosure should be limited to evidence relating to why your complaint was rejected. Evidence pertaining to your assessment will not be heard at this time.
A decision will be rendered and sent to you within 30 days from your jurisdictional hearing. If the Board decides in your favour, a merit hearing will be scheduled at a later date. You will receive an additional Notice of Hearing for your original assessment complaint.
I filed a complaint but I cannot see my complaint when I log into the Evidence Disclosure Portal.
Make sure your myID account uses the same email address you used to register with ePortal. Using the same email address is required to ensure that your complaint information from ePortal appears properly in the Evidence Disclosure Portal.
If your myID account email address is different than the one used to log in to ePortal, go to the Account tab in myID, click on Edit profile, and change your email address to match your ePortal email address.
I do not have a myID account, what should I do?
Please register here for a myID account. When registering, you need to use the same email address you filed your complaint with on ePortal.
Why do I need a myID account?
The Assessment Review Board continues to remain independent from the City Assessment Business Unit. This system integration will provide a streamlined way for citizens to access multiple City services.
I have always submitted my evidence via hardcopy, do I have to use the Evidence Disclosure Portal?
The Evidence Disclosure Portal is a convenient way for complainants to submit their evidence to both the Assessment Review Board and the City Assessment Business Unit in one-step. If you prefer to submit your evidence by hardcopy, you can still do so. It is your responsibility to ensure you submit a copy to both the ARB and to the City.
How do I know that my evidence is submitted successfully using the Evidence Disclosure Portal?
Once evidence is submitted, users will receive an email notification confirming receipt.
I did not receive an email notification confirming receipt of my disclosure.
Please ensure you check your spam email folder. Alternatively, you can whitelist ARBEvidenceDisclosurePortal@services.calgary.ca
I get an error saying my file is too large, what should I do?
The maximum file size is 250MB. You will need to either compress your file or 'break-up' your file into smaller parts as not to exceed 250MB.
What file formats does the Electronic Evidence Portal support?
Bitmap Image File (.bmp)
Comma-Separated Values File (.csv)
Graphical Interchange Format File (.gif)
JPEG Image (.jpeg)
JPEG Image (.jpg)
Microsoft Excel Document (.xls)
Microsoft Excel Open XML Document (.xlsx)
Microsoft Word Document (.doc)
Microsoft Word Open XML Document (.docx)
Plain Text File (.txt)
Portable Document Format File (.pdf)
Portable Network Graphic (.png)
PowerPoint Open XML Presentation (.pptx)
PowerPoint Presentation (.ppt)
Rich Text Format (.rtf)
Why do I get an error message when I am submitting evidence in Evidence Disclosure Portal?
Please review the preferred web browsers on the log in page and make sure you are using one of the preferred browsers.
I used the Electronic Disclosure Portal to submit my evidence, do I need to submit it anywhere else?
If you submitted via the Evidence Disclosure Portal you do not need to submit it to any other party.
Can I submit a link or URL as evidence?
No, a link or URL is not considered evidence and will not be considered by the Board. Please put the target content of a link or URL into a word document or pdf document then submit.
How do I save a group of Complaints?
If you have more than one complaint you will be able to use the grouping function. Select all complaints you wish to group and click 'Add to Group'. From this screen you can save your group. To navigate back to the saved group, at the top of the menu, click on the 'Groups' icon and navigate to saved Groups.
How can I submit the same evidence to multiple Complaints?
You will need to create a grouping of complaints.
On the main grid screen, select all the complaints you wish to group together by using the checkboxes and click 'Add to Group'. From this screen you can attach disclosures to the entire group. You can also save your group if you wish to navigate back to the same grouping of complaints at a later time.
I am trying to create a new group of complaints but it keeps adding them to my existing group.
You will need to close your current group you are working on before you can create a new group. Click on the 'Groups' icon at the top menu and select 'Close Current Group'.
Once I have created a group, how do I add more complaints to this group?
While viewing a group, you can either click on 'Add more complaint(s)' and select additional complaints or you can use the 'Add by' tool at the top of the screen to add in more complaints.
When I export items to Excel, it includes all of my complaints instead of just my selected complaints.
The export function is designed to export all items to Excel.
Why do I keep getting an error when I try to add a complaint to a group?
If you are receiving an error, you have either added the same file number into the group and therefore it is showing as a duplicate, OR a complaint is in ‘read-only’ status.
What does the read-only status mean?
Complaints are read-only if they have already been heard by the board and are waiting for a decision by the board.
What does the red box by the ‘Groups’ icon denote?
This box will show up once a group is opened. The first number in the red box shows how many complaints are in that group. The second number shows how many disclosures have been attached to that group but are not yet submitted.
For example 5 | 2 means there are 5 files in the group and 2 disclosures uploaded, waiting to be submitted.
What does the update button do?
The update button allows the user to resubmit a document if they have made a revision. The original document still forms part of the board’s record and will be included in all the submissions. Panel members will have access to all documents, however, any revised documents will be in an addendum and will be referenced if requested/necessary.
