Calgary

After all the numbers were crunched, AEC’s Calgary-based Assessment & Tax Management (ATM) team proved that 2012 was a productive year. It was one marked by increased efficiency and unprecedented delivery of our Energy clients’ requirements. The final 2012 tax payment approval reports have been tallied; they have processed more than $165M in taxes for our Energy clients – in more than 450 jurisdictions in Western Canada and the Northern US!

The ATM process for an Energy client is an intricate one. It includes review of assessment data, verification of tax levies, and identification of anomalies and opportunities for reductions as well as allocation of cost centers to wells, pipelines, surface equipment, and electric power systems.

A key contributor to the 2012 success was AEC’s exclusive Canadian rights to the ONESOURCE Property Tax™ (OPT) software system. Using OPT allowed the ATM team not only to efficiently process the immense volume of taxes, but to also provide detailed reporting to our clients on their tax liability. Where requested, taxes were uploaded directly into our client’s payable system – a practise that is becoming more popular as companies move to online payment approvals. These improvements have allowed us to provide our clients with the most advanced customized reporting in the area of property taxation allowing them to be paid on time, avoiding costly penalties.

Brock Ryan, Director of Income and Complex Properties, and Steven Rickard, Advisor, will be speaking at the Calgary Hotel Association (CHA) Member Luncheon on Thursday, November 15 at the Greenwood Inn & Suites. They will be reviewing changes to the 2013 Calgary property tax assessment process. For sure, this will be a timely and lively discussion on matters that are currently top-of-mind to many in the Calgary hotel market.

Other speakers include:

• Gisele Danis from Tourism Calgary, discussing the Paul Hardy event as a big win for Calgary
• Pravesh Thathiah and Jonathan Cleall from Enmax, presenting the current and future outlook for the Power industry in Alberta and discussing the program in place with the AHLA

All CHA hotel and associate members are welcome to attend. Please RSVP to Cindy Tedd to help confirm catering numbers.

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.

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.