A Property Assessment is an official valuation of your property’s worth (land + improvements such as buildings) used to decide how much property tax you’ll pay. It reflects market value (for land) and replacement cost (for buildings) under territorial standards. 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 those guidelines. 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.
Annual Assessments reflect any changes in property value for that year. Adding improvements or removing assets may increase or decrease a property’s value.
Each year:
- The City mails an Assessment Notice to property owners in January. It shows your property value for the current and prior years.
- Land values are based on market value, and buildings on depreciated replacement cost.
You should review this notice carefully for errors (e.g., incorrect lot info, measurements, and classification).
All properties are reassessed to reflect current market values for land and current depreciated replacement costs. Before the most recent General Assessment in 2025, assessed values were based on 2017 values; the 2025 General Assessment updated them based on 2024 land market values and 2025 property depreciated replacement costs.
Note: these are done at least every 10 years.
This is an essential part of keeping assessed values current and reflective of the values of properties throughout the community, and helps support a transparent method of distributing the responsibility for property taxation revenues.
Not necessarily — because taxes depend on both your assessed value AND the mill rate. If everyone’s values rise by, say, 10% and the City lowers the mill rate accordingly, your taxes may stay the same or rise less than your specific assessment increase.
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. However, 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.
You can compare the assessed values of your property with other similar properties in your neighbourhood using the online City Explorer tool. 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.
You can also call (867) 920-5625 or (867) 920-5664 to speak to someone about the assessed values, or attend the Open House, scheduled for late January, to meet with the Assessor.
If you wish to dispute the assessed values assigned to your property, you must file a complaint in writing 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
Yes, you must still pay your taxes by the due date to avoid penalties. If a decision on your complaint results in a lower tax levy, you will be credited the appropriate amount.
Land Assessment Values reflect 100% of the market values in Yellowknife for the 2024 base year. These values are determined by analyzing the average selling price of similar parcels of land in an area for the base year. Items such as lot size, location and zoning are taken into consideration.
Building Assessment Values reflect 100% of the typical depreciated replacement costs for 2025. These values are determined by applying the guidelines of a building assessment manual based on northern costs. These guidelines are regulated by the Territorial Government. Factors affecting building assessment values include size, type of structure, quality of materials and depreciation. Building assessment values include fixed structures such as residences and garages, and do not include items such as home furnishings, fences, driveways, and landscaping.
