MOOSE JAW — City council’s decision to renew an agreement with a contractor for property assessment services has frustrated the business community and prompted calls for more audits and quality control measures.
During the closed portion of its July 28 executive committee meeting, council discussed signing a new contract with the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency (SAMA) for Jan. 1, 2026, to Dec. 31, 2030. It then approved a recommendation in the meeting’s open portion to accept the contract.
For 2026, the gross fee the city will pay SAMA is $808,238. However, after giving the agency a “rent credit” of $49,238 — its office is in city hall — the net fee is $759,000, while including legal fees of $60,000 increases the total payable contract to $819,000.
If the rent expenses were included, then the city would be paying $868,238 to SAMA next year.
The contract notes that from 2027 to 2030, the annual cost escalation for services provided will be based upon the annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) for Regina from the previous year.
If the CPI increases are not considered, then the amount of money Moose Jaw could pay SAMA during the five-year contract ranges from $4,095,000 to $4,341,190 — based on annual fees of $819,000 or $868,238, respectively.
Meanwhile, based on the city’s public accounts, city hall paid SAMA $386,500 in 2007, $422,000 in 2010, $487,490 in 2015, $579,070 in 2020 and $687,648 last year.
The contract came to council’s Aug. 11 regular meeting as part of the executive committee minutes. Council voted 4-3 to accept the contract, with Mayor James Murdock and councillors Heather Eby, Patrick Boyle and Dawn Luhning in favour and councillors Jamey Logan, Chris Warren and Carla Delaurier opposed.
Presentation
Before the vote, council heard from businesswoman Kristy Van Slyck about the contract renewal.
“As you are aware, me and other concerned citizens are not in favour of keeping SAMA and their poor track record. However, it’s apparent that council does not hear our concerns and grievances,” she said.
Van Slyck said the contract gives the agency “full control” over Moose Jaw’s assessment system, while there was no cost-benefit analysis or quality control that would allow the city to have oversight of the organization.
Continuing, she said the city has agreed to give SAMA $60,000 for legal fees, while the municipality would pay any additional money the agency racks up. This means, she noted, that Moose Jaw has no control over when SAMA uses a lawyer or how often — equivalent to giving it a blank cheque.
“I don’t believe that’s the best way to spend our money,” she remarked.
Van Slyck then asked council to add an amendment to the recommendation that would see an “independent, third-party audit” or “quality-control measure” included in the contract. The audit would happen every revaluation cycle — every four years — and the independent agency hired would have to be approved by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
“This provides ratepayers with confidence in the system as well as the assessed values produced,” she said.
Van Slyck said she asked council in 2023 to have SAMA take these steps, but the latter denied the request. She also urged council to approach the province, but members inquired with SAMA instead and were told to drop it, while she asked council to discontinue contracts with private property assessors — to no effect.
The businesswoman said any contract with SAMA needs to protect ratepayers and ensure the agency does a “proper job,” because it is paid more money to do a “bad job” and never faces consequences for its poor performance. Moreover, the city gives it money to appeal residents’ appeals.
“… over the last four years, we have made it obvious that there are flaws (in the assessment services),” Van Slyck said.
Continuing, Van Slyck said SAMA must — as the contract stipulates — provide city hall with the assessments by Jan. 31 of every year. However, her research showed that the agency had never met that deadline over the last 12 years, making her wonder whether the clauses in the contract mattered.
The businesswoman also noted that, based on SAMA’s control of the property assessment system, it’s no surprise that Moose Jaw has almost the same number of appeals as Saskatoon.
Van Slyck said that, similar to Saskatoon, Moose Jaw should create a governance committee to help make the process fairer for citizens, to reduce SAMA’s lawyer fees and to reduce the money council pays during the appeal process.
“Currently, SAMA has it all and you have no say,” she added. “And I would be really disappointed and really shocked if you did not realize that and … just signed (the contract).”
Council’s discussion about SAMA will be featured in a separate article.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Aug. 25.
