N.B. to spend $24M on new property assessment software
‘Safeguards’ in place for multi-year software rollout: Service New Brunswick
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The New Brunswick government is expected to spend $24 million over the next three years to develop and implement new property assessment software almost seven years after the botched rollout of new technology resulted in a property tax scandal.
In November 2017, the province’s then auditor general Kim MacPherson found Service New Brunswick rushed out a new aerial photography program and new “MRA” models, a statistical technique used in what’s known as computer-assisted mass appraisal.
Both were components of a project to modernize the province’s property assessment system.
About 94,000 residential properties were assessed using this fast-tracked system, resulting in more than 2,000 homeowners reporting inaccurate large increases to their tax bills.
After her investigation, MacPherson put forward that Service New Brunswick undertake a “lessons-learned analysis” and incorporate those lessons before implementing new technology, among a host of other recommendations.
Service New Brunswick is now in the “early stages” of implementing a new computer-assisted mass appraisal system, with an eye on the recommendations contained in MacPherson’s report, confirmed spokesperson Jennifer Vienneau.
“There are many safeguards in place to help facilitate the transition into a new software program,” Vienneau said in an email.
In addition to reviewing MacPherson’s recommendations, other “safeguards” include pre-established project management guidelines, consultations with the International Property Tax Institute and the system vendor, and “internal quality control.”
Once the system is fully implemented, New Brunswick property owners will be able to access an online portal to review information, make requests and contact Service New Brunswick’s Property Assessment Services.
It’s not clear when that portal will be available to property owners.
“This is a multi-year project that will take several years to fully implement,” Vienneau said in an email.
“The new system will consolidate and streamline current data management tools to increase internal efficiencies, such as data collection and entry, while promoting information-sharing across departments.”
Assessors will be equipped with handheld tablets to gather data, Vienneau added, to create efficiencies and reduce the use of paper.
The project is expected to cost $8 million for each of the next three years. Those costs include developing and implementing the system, along with training costs and software licensing fees.
– With files from Brunswick News archives
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