The long-running dispute over property assessments and the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency (SAMA) resurfaced at Moose Jaw city council on Aug. 25, leading to a unanimous confirmation of Councillor Chris Warren's delayed motion from last meeting to require regular public reporting.
Pastor Godwin Ezizor, a former city councillor candidate, was the latest in a series of residents who have presented to ask council for more oversight of how SAMA calculates property values. He argued that without clearer explanations and independent checks, taxpayers are left vulnerable.
“If council cannot step in directly, then who protects the taxpayers from imbalance or errors in the process?” Ezizor said.
He criticized a clause in the new SAMA contract that prevents Moose Jaw from using its own property data if it switches providers within two years.
“It traps us, not by choice, but by contract,” he told councillors.
Ezizor also noted the city budgets $60,000 annually for legal fees tied to assessment appeals. He questioned why disputes are not prevented up front and called for plain-language explanations of formulas such as capitalization rates and for third-party audits of SAMA’s work.
Warren, who has voiced frustration with SAMA and expressed solidarity with resident complaints about the process, was able to bring forward his motion, previously ruled out of order, to formalize annual presentations from SAMA to council, plus at least one open house and education session each year.
“This ensures both council and the community can hear directly from SAMA staff, ask questions, and get clarity,” Warren said, emphasizing that regular sessions would move the discussion from one-off complaints to structured accountability.
The motion passed unanimously, although Councillor Dawn Luhning expressed some reservations. Luhning sits on SAMA’s provincial board of directors and has been an outspoken defender of the agency. She disagrees with criticisms from Ezizor and others, stressing that assessments are carried out under provincial legislation and by professional staff.
“The board is made up of elected representatives from across Saskatchewan municipalities,” Luhning said. “The process is legislated, not arbitrary. People are frustrated, but much of that frustration stems from provincial rules, not SAMA hiding its methods.”
She ultimately supported the motion because she believes that citizens and elected officials should be as educated as possible.
The comments underline a tension that has lingered in Moose Jaw for years. While local residents direct their frustration at city council's reluctance to impose more restrictions and transparency requirements, the assessment system is centrally governed through SAMA and provincial law, creating a Catch-22 for the municipality.
By embedding annual reporting and community sessions into its relationship with SAMA, Moose Jaw council has taken a step toward greater transparency — even as the broader debate over fairness in assessments continues.