The Rural Municipality of Hanover is well ahead of the provincial average when it comes to re-assessment figures. 

Chief Financial Officer Derek Decru says assessment has increased by an average of 20.2 per cent in Hanover, from 2023. By comparison, the provincial average is a 13 per cent increase. 

Decru explains that every two years, our province goes through a process where it reviews every property and places a value based on previous sales of similar homes and properties in the region. The re-assessment notices that Hanover residents have been receiving are based on sales from transactions that occurred on properties between April 1st, 2021, and April 1st, 2023. 

Mark Budey is an assessment officer. He says a re-assessed value is 100 per cent driven by market conditions. Budey says if you have spent $100,000 renovating your home in the last couple of years, that is not part of re-assessment. 

Decru says if you are a property owner in Hanover and your assessment went up by 20 per cent, that does not mean that your taxes will be going up by 20 per cent next year. He notes assessment is only one piece of the puzzle, with mil rate being the other piece. Decru says when Hanover Council prepares its budget in 2025, it will take a look at assessment and then set the mil rate accordingly.  

"Because at the end of the day, we don't necessarily need more money to run the municipality," he explains. "That's just one piece of the calculation that we use to figure out what the taxes are per property."

Decru says what that means is that if your assessment in Hanover increased by the average 20 per cent, there will likely be a minimal impact on taxes. However, if your assessment went up by 25 or 30 per cent, you could probably anticipate a tax increase in 2025. On the contrary, if your assessment increased by less than 20 per cent, you may see a slight decrease in taxes next year. 

According to Decru, this year's average increase of 20.2 per cent, is more than the 14.4 per cent increase in 2023, which was the last year of re-assessment. The previous re-assessment year was 2020, which saw a four per cent increase in Hanover. 

Decru says this year's assessment increase is evenly split. He notes the last two assessment years saw a greater increase in farmland properties, especially those along Highway 52. There was then less of an increase on residential properties. He notes this year it is much more even across the board. 

Budey says with an average assessment increase of 20.2 per cent, Hanover is not highest in the province. He notes several others are around the 22 to 24 per cent range. However, Budey says what has influenced Hanover's 20.2 per cent increase is its proximity to Winnipeg. 

"We're seeing a lot of strong sales in the area as it's closer to Winnipeg, so that's probably one of the main factors of why the market is so strong out here," notes Budey. "And then a lot of growth everywhere, especially Hanover, every major town there is seeing developments."

For any Hanover residents with questions regarding their re-assessment notices, Decru invites them to call the RM office. He notes their staff is very willing to discuss this with ratepayers. For ratepayers who feel there is an error, Decru invites them to call the Manitoba assessment branch at 204-326-9896. Decru adds there will be a board of revision sometime this fall where ratepayers can plead their case and have their assessment reviewed by Council.