Ingrid Protacio's blog

We are very excited to announce that we are expanding our lease audit service to include both Realty Tax Allocations and Common Area Maintenance Charges, under the direction of Directors of Lease Audits, Angelo Walters and Larry Young. 

As an acknowledged advocate for tenants, no other firm has the depth and expertise for both Realty Tax and CAM lease audit services as AEC, with coast-to-coast national coverage, spanning the Retail, Office, Commercial and Industrial sectors.

Please read the announcement for details on how our clients benefit from the new expanded Lease Audit offering. For questions, you can contact Angelo and Larry directly via their profile pages.

It has been a wildly successful summer for AEC. We want to share some of these stories with you, as a learning opportunity on what you can do in order to make your property tax work for you. It should not be an expense item that you simply pay.

Please see the new case studies where we talk about 2 cases:

1. Producing results for a client where the previous service provider missed opportunities to minimize tax
2. Determining fair market rent for the best building in the City in a declining downtown market

Have a read and use the contact page to let us know what you think!

We are seeking to build a leadership team that is focused on “moving the needle” while embracing and building upon individual strengths. The key role of our leaders is to pay witness to our strengths and align them appropriately in order to increase the value of the organization and ultimately create new opportunities for our people and our clients alike.

It is for this reason and with great pleasure that we announce the appointment of Shawna Burke-Martin to the role of Managing Director of our growing energy practice. The formal announcement details her accomplishments and highlights the definitive reason we are glad to call her one of our leaders. Congratulations, Shawna!

Yee-haw! On Tuesday, July 10, AEC Calgary hosted partners, friends and fellow cowboys/cowgirls at Jack Astor's on MacLeod Trail for its annual Stampede Party. The weather was great. The drinks were going down smoothly. The grub was plenty. It was definitely a pleasure to see many of our friends come out and celebrate the 100th Calgary Stampede. Thank you, Shawna Burke-Martin and Jill McKenna for the great time had by all! Here are some photos from the early part of the event.

AEC would like to congratulate our very own Rob Gagne, Managing Director of AEC Western, on being recently awarded a membership designation with RICS, the world's leading qualification when it comes to professional standards in land, property and construction. Read the news release here.

As reflected on his profile, Rob is viewed as a true leader truly deserving of this prestigious accreditation. Congratulations, Rob!

It's that time of the year again ... Non-residential property owners and occupiers in Calgary, mark your calendars! The City has announced that its 2013 Advanced Consultation Period will start on October 4 and continute until October 31, 2012. During this time, taxpayers are given the opportunity to engage in a 2-way exchange of information discussing property and business specific questions in advance of the 2013 Assessment Notice mailing. Upon contacting the City, taxpayers are provided with the preliminary 2013 property or business assessment.

Representatives must have valid Authorization of Agency (AOA) filed with the City of Calgary prior to the commencement of any discussions during the 3 week period.

Customer Review Period

Following the mailing of the 2013 assessment notices in January 2013, all taxpayers will have a 60 day period in which to participate in discussions regarding the correctness and fairness of the subject assessment. The values reflected on the 2013 assessment notices will be based on the market value of property and the typical net annual rental value of the business space as of July 01, 2012.

In what is a massive change to the City's taxation process, the City of Calgary is consolidating its business tax with non-residential property tax. A change of this magnitude will require an implementation period of 7 years, with the phased rate breakdown detailed by in the City of Calgary Business Tax Consolidation website.

Great News ... Hot off the Presses!

Service Nova Scotia has announced several major changes to its appeal process and the publication of real estate sale prices.

AEC is proud to have been a participant in the stakeholder consultations that has allowed for this positive legislation change to be passed. The changes are expected to be implemented for the 2013 assessments.

Read here for full details on the changes, and it's impact on your assessment appeals.

The push for sustainable energy is undeniable. From such personal changes like reusable bags for Sunday shopping and personal tax credits for public transit passes to industry changes like LEED certification that is quickly becoming status quo, the effect is evident.

Albeit smaller in scale, the decision referenced in this article may possibly set the precedent on non-residential real estate values properties with proximity to green energy sources.

Ontario's Assessment Review Board (ARB) has rejected the position the rural residential owner has declared. According to the ARB, the proximity to wind turbines has not significantly decreased the value of their home, despite the owner's arguments about the noise and environmental disadvantages it places on them. Critical to the decision is MPAC's stand that the assessment algorithm they use does not factor in proximity to wind turbines. Of note is that when settlement of the case was being discussed, MPAC had ensured that any settlement agreement would make no reference to wind turbines.

Only time will tell how this decision will translate to non-residential property values and whether the models that assessment authorities use will be modified in the nearby future to accomodate for alternative or "green" sources of energy.

No one likes change ... so why do we do it?

In the case of the AEC website, other changes begot this change. We are excited and want to share these positive changes with you, our partners and clients.

For instance, the focus of this website is to give more to the client. We hope to convey the knowledge and unique processes that we employ to eliminate dangers, mitigate risk and leverage opportunities for our clients. This is evident in Our Unique Method®* and Our Library sections. In Our Unique Method®, we share what differentiates us from other clients, as well as the common dangers that we see in our daily practice. Our Library is also a brand-new section where we lay out in simplified format the differences by Canadian jurisdiction. We also provide a section where we can update clients on any legislation changes that may impact them. Instead of finding out about these too late, we are proactive in providing the guidance to our clients. We have also included a pertinent dates calendar that is downloadable - a handy reference guide for the busy professional who needs to keep track of their property tax and appeals deadlines. Finally, we have uploaded videos from previous sessions; just because you have missed a session doesn't mean you miss out on the learnings.