Midtown Plaza ($309M), hotels, Sasktel office among properties disputing value assessments

Commercial property owners in Saskatoon are appealing the city's recent reappraisal of their property's worth in the highest numbers seen since 2005.

The owners of 284 commercial properties have filed appeals, up from the 268 who filed appeals during the last assessment year (2013), though not as high as the 424 appeals seen in 2005.

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By volume comparing the number of commercial appeals versus the total number of all types of parcels in the city the numbers are significantly lower than in 2005, accounting for only 0.3 per cent of all parcels in the city.

Properties were reassessed by the city to reflect their market value as of Jan. 1, 2015.

The city's Board of Revision is set up to hear appeals. The next round of hearings will take place Thursday.

Midtown Plaza property valued at $309 million

The owners of some of downtown Saskatoon's largest buildings were among the appealers.

The Midtown Plaza property's value was assessed at $309 million, up from $200 million during the last assessment four years ago.

That means the owners will pay $4.5 million in municipal taxes, up from $3.4 million in 2013 provided the appeal is lost.

The Delta Bessborough and Radisson Hotel Saskatoon are also appealing.

The Bessborough property has been valued at $34 million, resulting in taxes of $496,000. That's up from an estimated value of $28 million and taxes of $480,000in 2013.

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The Radisson has been valued at $43 million, with taxes of $621,000. That's up from a value of $35 million and taxes of $603,000 in 2013.

Sasktel's 1st Avenue office building was also on the list. It's worth $22 million, up from $16 million. Taxes come to $329,000, compared to $273,000 in 2013.

Also worth around $22 million: The Circle 8 shopping centre property on 8th Street. That's up from an estimated value of $14 million in 2013.

The property that's home to a high-rise and the downtown CIBC locationis worth an estimated $18 million, up from $16.3 million in 2013.