BIGHORN – A new assessor has been picked for the MD of Bighorn.
During the October virtual council meeting, administration put forward a request to sign a contract with new company, KCL Contracting Inc. for the MD's assessment services.
"The current [assessor] contract expired, so we put out a request for proposal and with the review from the team, we came to the decision that this was the best route for the MD at the time," Bighorn director of finance Shaina Tut said.
Administration pointed out KCL has provided consistent and stable property assessment services to Alberta municipalities since the business incorporated in 1997, with experience in rural counties, towns, villages, summer villages and cities.
Councillor Lisa Rosvold questioned the need for a five-year contract. Tutt said that while the MD has awarded three-year contracts for assessors in the past, the contractor requested the timeline to allow for a full cycle of evaluations, as assessors typically only assess approximately 20 per cent of properties per year.
"A five-year contract allows the contractors to make investments in their own efficiencies – over a one, two, three-year contract, that typically doesn't happen," Coun. Paul Clark said.
Coun. Paul Ryan also threw in his support for the five-year contract.
"I have seen a number of different assessors work for the MD, and I think it is smart to renew or change your assessors from time to time, like changing your auditors from time to time ... I am happy administration has done their due diligence and I have no problem supporting it," Ryan said.
The budget was approximately $60,000 for the assessment services.
Council unanimously approved to enter into a five-year agreement with KCL Contracting Inc. and also appointed Kevin Lawrence and Grant Clark as the municipal assessors.
