Q. What is the Municipal Assessment Agency?

A. Since 1997, the Municipal Assessment Agency is the crown-owned corporation responsible for providing real property valuations for property tax purposes under the Assessment Act. The Agency is governed by a twelve member Board, comprising six elected municipal officials, two taxpayer representatives, two government representatives, and a representative each of the NLFM and NLAMA. The six municipal representatives are elected by the municipal clients based on the Agency’s by-laws. The remaining nominees are appointed by either the provincial government or their representative group.

A. Any elected municipal official is eligible to be nominated provided they meet some basic requirements. The municipality they serve must be a client of the municipality whose account is not more than ninety days in arrears. The individual must be:

a member of council is nineteen years of age or older is not mentally incompetent or has been found so by a court in Canada or elsewhere not have the status of a bankrupt.

An individual councillor is eligible to be nominated as the director for the grouping to which their municipality belongs.

A. In order to ensure a new Board is in place no later than the end of January, nominations will close by 5:00 PM on December 4, 2000. Only nominations received at the office of the Agency’s Executive Director at that time will be considered. Nomination forms can be faxed or mailed, but will not be accepted after 5:00 PM on December 4, 2000. Ballots will be distributed by December 11, 2000 and the election period will close on January 15, 2001.

A. Board members will be elected for a two year term. The non-elected positions will come up for renewal in non-election years providing for continuity on the Board. The Agency’s Board is considered a Level 1 board, that is not requiring any specialized knowledge or professional standing. An honorarium is paid and all reasonable expenses associated with Board activities are reimbursed in accordance with the Agency’s policy.

A. Please call the Agency’s Executive Director, Mr. Sean Martin at (709) 724-1532.