How local

improvements
affect your
property and
your taxes.

improvements
local

calgary.ca
call 3-1-1
Local improvements
Introduction
This brochure explains how local improvements affect
your property and your taxes.
Table of contents
Defining local improvements . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Governing local improvements. . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Initiating local improvements. . . . . . . . . . . . 2
What regular taxes cover. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Reasons for local improvements . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Requesting a local improvement. . . . . . . . . . . 4
Petitioning against a local improvement . . . . . . . 5
Assessing a local improvement. . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Assessing residential properties. . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Assessing non-residential properties. . . . . . . . 10
How is my cost determined? . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Other assessment methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Paying for local improvements. . . . . . . . . . . 12
Disagreeing with my assessment. . . . . . . . . . 13

1
Defining local improvements
Local improvements are construction projects upgrading
or improving infrastructure in residential, commercial and
industrial areas. Examples include street or lane paving,
driveway crossing construction, new or replacement
sidewalk, curb and gutter, as well as street lighting.

Governing local improvements

The Municipal Government Act provides provincial
statutory guidelines for the administration of local
improvements.

Initiating local improvements

Property owners or The City of Calgary can initiate
improvements. In either case, a Notice of Intention
to Undertake a Local Improvement is sent to affected
property owners by The City. This indicates the type of
work proposed and the estimated cost to the property
owner.

What regular taxes cover

Regular taxes are used to finance City operations and
maintain existing infrastructure, snow and ice control,
sweeping and essential services such as Police, E.M.S
and Fire.

2
Reasons for local improvements
Local improvements are initiated for several reasons.
As part of an on-going program, all sidewalks, curbs and
gutters in older communities are inspected and ranked
on a priority list based on their condition. Each year, The
City initiates replacement projects based on this list.

Local improvements are also identified after The City

receives public concerns about a road, sidewalk, curb
or gutter.

In addition, The City works with business revitalization

zones, community associations and other groups to
identify improvements in specific areas, like downtown
malls and streetscape improvement projects. When The
City initiates a local improvement project, the property
owners and City Council ultimately decide whether the
project will be constructed.

3
Requesting a local
improvement
1. Obtain a petition package including a petition form
and map, by calling The City of Calgary Operations
Centre at 3-1-1. Out of town call 403-268-2489 or
email us at ccweb@calgary.ca.
2. To be valid, the petition form must be signed by
two-thirds of the affected property owners who
represent at least one-half the total assessment of the
affected area, according to the last revised assessment
roll. All signatures must be obtained within a 60-day
period, in accordance to provisions in the Municipal
Government Act.
3. The completed petition form, affidavit and statement
of witness must be returned to The City as indicated
in the package.
4. The affected property owners are notified in writing
whether or not the petition is valid. When a valid
petition is received, the proposed project is included
in the next available group of local improvements.
Affected property owners are notified of The City’s
intention to undertake a local improvement.
Note: The City normally processes two groups of local
improvement projects each year. The first group is
scheduled for Council approval prior to the beginning
of the construction season. The second is scheduled for
Council’s approval in mid-summer. Depending on the
amount of work and weather conditions throughout the
construction season, projects in the second group may be
completed by the end of the construction season.
It takes a minimum of four months to process a group of
local improvement projects. This means petitions must be
received by The City before the end of March to enable
project approval in the current year.
As outlined above, this does not mean projects will be
constructed in the current year. Petitions for projects
received after March are included in the first group of
local improvement projects the following year.

4
Petitioning against a local
improvement
1. A petition package must be obtained from The City.
See “Requesting a local improvement,” number one.
2. To be valid, the petition form must be signed by two-
thirds of the affected property owners who represent at
least one-half the total assessment of the affected area,
according to the last revised assessment roll.
3. The completed petition form, affidavit and statement
of witness must be returned to The City within 30
days of the mailing date of the Notice of Intention to
Undertake a Local Improvement.
4. The affected property owners are notified in writing
whether or not the petition is valid.
5. If the petition against the proposed local improvement
is valid, The City cannot proceed with the proposed
improvement. The City deletes the local improvement
from the Local Improvement Bylaw and advises City
Council of the valid petition.
6. If the petition against the proposed local improvement
is invalid, City Council is advised of the reason and
then decides if the proposed local improvement is
deleted from the Local Improvement Bylaw.
7. Affected property owners will be notified in writing of
Council’s decision.

5
Assessing a local improvement
Properties benefiting from a local improvement are
assessed in a fair and equitable manner, according to
provisions in the Municipal Government Act. The cost of
a local improvement may be assessed against
• properties that abut the work
• properties that don’t abut the work but benefit from it
• both of the above.
NOTE: No properties are exempt from local
improvements. City-owned properties are assessed in the
same manner as privately owned properties.

Assessing residential
properties
Properties abutting a local improvement are assessed based
on assessable property frontage. In most cases, assessable
frontage is the same as actual frontage.

Frontage assessment
Properties abutting a local improvement “front” the work.
(Figure A illustrates a frontage assessment.)
Properties 25 through 31 are all charged for the local
improvement based on an assessable frontage of 15 metres.

6
Figure A

Local improvement

15m 15m 15m 15m 15m 15m 15m

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

15m 15m 15m 15m 15m 15m 15m

Each property would be charged:

Rate per metre x 15 metres = $____.

In the case of irregularly shaped lots (where the sides are

not parallel), the following formula is used to determine
assessed frontage:
Longest width - shortest width x 35% + shortest width
This formula ensures that all properties are assessed
equitably.
Property 15 in Figure B is an example of how this
formula would apply.
28 - 9 = 19 x 35% = 6.65 + 9 = 15.65m
Rate per metre x 15.65 = $____

Figure B

Local improvement

15m 15m 15m 15m 15m

15m 9m
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
15m 15m 15m 15m 15m 15m 28m

7
Flankage assessment
For properties benefiting from the local improvement, but
not bordering or fronting the work, assessments are based
on 26.5 per cent of the property’s assessable frontage. This
is called a flankage assessment.
Flankage assessments may apply in cases of road paving and
the construction of new curb and gutter, and/or sidewalk
where none previously existed.
The 26.5 per cent rate, as approved by Council, ensures
equitable cost distribution among all benefiting property
owners. Flankage is assessed from one end of the block to
the other, or to a maximum distance of 305 metres.
Figures C, D and E illustrate flankage assessments.

Figure C
improvement

15m 15m 15m 15m 15m 15m 15m

Local

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

15m 15m 15m 15m 15m 15m 15m

Properties 2 through 8 (Figure C) would each be charged

based on 26.5 per cent of the assessable frontage of 15 metres.
Example
Each property would be charged:
Rate per metre x 15 metres x 26.5% = $__.

Figure D

Local improvement A
improvement B

15m 15m 15m 15m15m 15m 15m

Local

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

15m 15m 15m 15m 15m15m 15m

8
In some instances, properties are assessed for both frontage
and flankage. In Figure D, properties 12 through 18
would be charged for local improvement A, based on an
assessable frontage of 15 metres. Each property would also
be charged flankage for local improvement B, based on
26.5 per cent of assessable frontage.
Example
Each property would be charged:
Local improvement A
Rate per metre x 15 metres = $__.
plus
Local improvement B
Rate per metre x 15 metres x 26.5% = $__.

Figure E
improvement B
improvement A

15m 15m 15m 15m 15m 15m 15m

Local
Local

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

15m 15m 15m 15m 15m 15m 15m

It’s also possible for a property to be assessed two

flankage charges as in Figure E. Two flankage charges
would be applied to properties 1 through 7, one each
for local improvement A and local improvement B. Both
improvements border each end of the block. Each charge
would be based on 26.5 per cent of the assessable frontage.
Example
Each property would be charged:
Local improvement A
Rate per metre x 15 metres x 26.5% = $__.
plus
Local improvement B
Rate per metre x 15 metres x 26.5% = $__.

9
Assessing non-residential
properties
Non-residential property assessments are based on the
length of property abutting the local improvement.

Figure F:

Local
improvement

15m15m15m
15m 15m 15m 15m 30m
1
4 5 6 7 2

Lots 4 to 7 would be charged for 15 metres, and lot 1

charged 30 metres. No flankage would be charged.

How is my cost determined?

The cost assessed to the property owners is calculated in
one of two ways.
Uniform tax rate
For common types of residential local improvements like
lane paving and sidewalks, uniform tax rates for each type
of improvement are approved by City Council each year.
The cost for a property owner is calculated by multiplying
the property’s assessable length by the uniform tax rate.

10
Annual cost
Other types of improvements, without uniform tax rates,
are assessed on the actual cost of the work. To calculate the
cost per metre for the project, the total cost of a project is
divided by the total assessable length of the project. The
cost for each property is then calculated by multiplying its
assessable length by the cost per metre.

Example
For project costs of $40,000 and total assessable length of
304.8 metres:
Cost per metre = $40,000 ÷ 304.8 = $131.23.
For a 15 metre lot, cost would be:
15 x $131.23 = $1968.45.

Other assessment methods

Assessments are also based on each parcel of land or each
unit of area.
Examples:
A local improvement of $10,000 may affect 100 parcels of
land; the cost to each parcel would be:
$10,000 ÷ 100 = $100/parcel.
A local improvement of $100,000 may affect 20 parcels
with a total area of 100 hectares.
Cost: $100,000 ÷ 100 = $1000/hectare.
For a 5 hectare parcel, total cost would be:
5 x $1,000 = $5,000.

11
Paying for local improvements
Each property owner has two options for payment once
construction is completed.
A. a one time payment of the full levy (no interest is included)
B. annual payments that are included in your property tax
bill for the term of the bylaw (interest is included)
In the year following construction you, as an affected
property owner will be mailed a Local Improvement
Assessment Notice and a Payout Notice.
The Assessment Notice provides you with details, i.e. total
assessed size/length, term and interest rate. Note: interest
rates are fixed for the term of the bylaw.
The Payout Notice provides the total cost of the project,
as well as the amount for you to pay. If this payment is
made, no interest charges are applied.
If you choose not to make this payment, the charges are
automatically transferred annually to your property tax bill.
You may request a payout balance at any time during the
amortized period. Interest charges are included up to that
year only.
Note: Local improvement levies can be paid out in full at
any time during the amortization period. Once paid, the
interest charges are applied up to that year only. The
interest rate is fixed for the period that the local
improvement is amortized.
Example #1:
If your lane is paved and your property has an assessable
frontage of 15 metres, and the uniform tax rate per
assessable metre is $175.00, then the total payout cost
would be:
15 metres x $175.00 = $2,625.00.
If amortized at 51/4 per cent over 15 years, the annual
charge, including interest, would be $17.15 per metre.
The cost would then be:
15 metres x $17.15 = $257.25 per year
for 15 years or a total of $3,858.75.

12
Example #2:
For a double-driveway crossing improvement the total
cost of the project is $2,300.00. This is the total payout
amount.
If amortized at 51⁄4 per cent over 15 years, the annual
charge would be $225.35. The total cost over 15 years
would be $3,380.25.

Disagreeing with my assessment

After receiving the Local Improvement Assessment Notice,
property owners can appeal to the Assessment Review
Board in the same manner as they would appeal their
property assessment.
Items for appeal include:
• incorrect assessable frontages
• incorrect owners assessed
• incorrect calculations
In many cases, assessment complaints can be resolved
without going through the appeal process. For this reason,
property owners should contact Local Improvement
by email at localim@calgary.ca, or by calling 3-1-1 to
discuss the assessment before lodging a complaint. City
representatives meet with the property owner to explain
the assessment and review the complaint. Resolving
complaints in this manner saves time and expenses for the
property owner and The City.
Complaints about a local improvement assessment must
be made within one year of the notice. The uniform cost
rates cannot be appealed.

13
 For further information, please
contact The City of Calgary
Roads, Local Improvement
In Calgary, call 3-1-1
Outside Calgary, phone
403-268-2489
Email: ccweb@calgary.ca
For more information:
calgary.ca/roads 2009-0141

calgary.ca
call 3-1-1