VICTORIA, Sept. 11, 2012 /CNW/ - The International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) has recognized the British Columbia Assessment Authority (BC Assessment) for having the world's best public information program for a property assessment jurisdiction.
This annual award is given to assessment jurisdictions that have developed and implemented an effective system for providing information to taxpayers about the property assessment process. The award was presented September 11 at the IAAO's annual convention in Kansas City, Missouri.
BC Assessment received the 2012 Public Information Program Award for its annual communications campaign in support of the 2012 Assessment Roll which resulted in a twenty-five percent reduction in property appeal rates.
The objective of this annual information campaign is to raise public and media awareness for British Columbia's property assessment process as nearly two million assessment notices are mailed to every property owner in the province.
"We are very honoured to be recognized internationally by the IAAO for the public relations work we do," said Connie Fair, BC Assessment's President and CEO. "We work as hard as we can to build greater trust and understanding with our many customers. The campaign is a key part of our business to highlight the products and services we offer. We also encourage our customers to interact with us at the critical time of year when they need to carefully review their assessment."
The campaign includes a variety of communications tactics to reach property owners, including direct mail, advertising, social media, media relations, educational videos, toll-free telephone service, publications, stakeholder meetings and website services such as the popular e-valueBC used to compare other assessments online.
The campaign runs from January to March each year at the time when property owners receive their annual assessment by mail and have the opportunity to contact BC Assessment to ask questions or to formally appeal their assessment to the independent Property Assessment Review Panel.
The IAAO, based in Kansas City, Missouri, is an educational research association that provides services to individuals and organizations in the international property assessment profession. BC Assessment is a provincial Crown corporation, governed by a Board of Directors, which is required under the Assessment Act to annually classify and value B.C.'s nearly two million properties.
More information is available online at www.iaao.org and www.bcassessment.ca
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SOURCE: BC Assessment
Media Contact:
Tim Morrison, Communications Coordinator
250 595-6211 local 251 Email: [email protected]
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