MOOSE JAW — Owners of Crackmasters Auto Glass say their recent property assessment shocked and frustrated them since it hit “even harder” than last year, while they know any attempts to appeal will be pointless.
The appraisal that the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency (SAMA) delivered is “crushing me right now,” Troy Rosenau, who co-owns the business with Dodie Deets, told MooseJawToday.com recently.
SAMA initially appraised the building — a Quonset hut at 801 High Street West — at roughly $313,000, but last year, increased that value by $214,000 to $527,000, Rosenau said. This upped the municipal taxes he pays to $11,500 from $7,900.
This year, the assessment contractor reappraised the Quonset and added another $240,000, pushing the building’s value to $767,000 and increasing the taxes to $16,500, he continued. So, in one calendar year, the taxes increased by over 200 per cent, without any justification why.
“They’re taking more off my bottom end. So I don’t mind paying a small share more, but this is getting ridiculous,” Rosenau stated.
Rosenau said he and Deets contacted SAMA, but no one returned his phone messages, as one of the main appraisers was away. They also sent emails and received “generic” messages without any substantial answers.
SAMA did not respond for this article.
The co-owners eventually learned that the agency had compared their Quonset hut with another building across the street — even though that building is square, uses different-sized lumber and was more expensive to build.
Crackmasters’ co-owners appealed their initial appraisal increase but were unable to change SAMA’s mind and lost.
“You can’t win. We (even) had great cases against them,” said Rosenau. “You have to prove errors (that SAMA made and) you have to prove them wrong. And then they never admit they’re wrong … . I’ve seen how the whole system works (and dug into it). It is corrupt.”
The co-owner noted that they received advice that they could present their case themselves, but he disputed that notion because of how complicated the process is. So, he and Deets hired businesswoman Kristy Van Slyck, since, he pointed out, she has experience in this area and knows more about assessments than SAMA’s employees. However, through no fault of her own, she was unsuccessful.
During the appeal meeting with SAMA, Rosenau said that every time he made an argument, an employee read the same section from the manual, even though it didn’t make sense.
Furthermore, the employee noted that since the front of Crackmasters’ building had tin cladding, that was one reason for the assessment increase — even though Rosenau had added that material 12 years ago.
The SAMA official also referred to the formulas the organization uses, but Rosenau said he didn’t think the official even understood how the equations worked.
This year, Rosenau and Deets have hired Regina’s The Atlas Group since the company is representing 20 other business owners facing similar increases. Rosenau noted that they will pay a smaller fee by joining this collective, and while The Atlas Group is unlikely to win, it will at least reduce the companies’ assessments “a little bit.”
“I’ve been in this building for 27 years and its value has never really changed,” Rosenau remarked. “Our market (for Quonsets) hasn’t changed.”
The co-owners said they invited city council to visit their building so they could explain their situation, but only three members responded. Moreover, their MLA visited and wanted to help, but nothing changed.
Deets noted that she wrote to the provincial minister whose ministry oversees SAMA and received a generic response. Furthermore, she and Rosenau emailed everyone they could think of with political pull, but were unsuccessful in acquiring help.
Continuing, the co-owners said Crackmasters is not the only business in Moose Jaw facing “insane” increases in property assessments and taxes. They have spoken with many other owners, including someone whose assessment allegedly jumped to nearly $1 million from $330,000.
“It’s so brutal,” Rosenau said.
Rosenau pointed out that his building is worth roughly $550,000, but SAMA values it at $765,000, while Deets said if someone wanted to buy their building, no bank — or real estate agent — would agree that the structure is worth three-quarters of a million dollars.
They also noted that if the local Board of Revision rules in favour of a business owner, then SAMA appeals to the Saskatchewan Municipal Board — with city hall paying the agency’s lawyer fees using taxpayers’ dollars.
“So we pay for the lawyer to fight against me. Like, what the hell?” Rosenau exclaimed.
The co-owners added that, since businesses can’t win appeals individually, this year, they brought together a group of owners who “flooded” SAMA with nearly 250 appeals — the average is roughly 40 a year.
