Minister names Assessment Agency Board

Art Reid, Minister of Municipal and Provincial Affairs announced today the appointment of a 10 member Board of Directors for the Municipal Assessment Agency.

The board is comprised of five municipal representatives, one representative from the Board of Directors of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Municipalities, two taxpayer representatives and two government representatives. It will be appointed for a two year term.

Government representatives include Robert Noseworthy, deputy minister of Municipal and Provincial Affairs, who serves as board chair. Another government member will be named shortly.

Municipal representatives include: Mayor Fred Best of Clarenville; Randy Simms, councilor, City of Mount Pearl; Rowena Bursey, mayor, Middle Arm: Aneitha Sheaves, mayor, Channel-Port aux Basques, and Stan Oliver, councillor, Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Mayor Walwyn Blackmore of the Town of Grand Falls-Windsor is the representative of the Federation of Municipalities on the board. Mr. Blackmore serves as the central director on the Federation Board.

The two taxpayer representatives are Jack Stratton of Corner Brook, a retired regional manager of Property Assessment for the western region of the province and William Butt of Carbonear, a retired mayor of that Conception Bay town.

"The board has good geographical representation throughout the province and it is comprised of persons who have sound knowledge and expertise in the area of municipal assessment," Mr. Reid said.

The board will oversee the operations of the Assessment Agency and report to the Minister of Municipal and Provincial Affairs on legislative matters.

The Assessment Agency was established as a separate entity in 1997 to give municipalities greater input and control over this municipal related function. It was formally a division of the Department of Municipal and Provincial Affairs.

Since the new agency became fully operational in June of 1997, it has established offices in eastern, central, western and the Labrador portion of the province together with 10 fields districts in the more populated areas of the province.

Mr. Reid said the creation of the independent, stand alone agency has resulted in a consistency of service, uniform service standards and equalized assessment fees across the province regardless of a municipality's size or geography.

Excluding St. John's which conducts its own assessments, the agency provides property assessment services for the 233 municipalities in the province that impose real property tax. The remaining 58 municipalities operate under a poll tax system and do not use the provincial assessment service.

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