News Release

FREDERICTON (GNB) – The following statement was issued today by Beth Webster, chair of Service New Brunswick’s board of directors:

Our priority is to ensure Service New Brunswick always provides a high level of service and operates in the best interests of New Brunswickers. We appreciate the work of the Auditor General of New Brunswick during her review of our property assessment services and also the professionalism and co-operation of Service New Brunswick employees on an ongoing basis and specifically throughout the review process.

We believe the review by the auditor general is an important exercise that will assist us in improving our property assessment services processes. While the public scrutiny has been difficult on our employees, who come to work each day with the best of intentions on behalf of New Brunswickers, we are confident we will come out of this experience as a stronger organization focused on achieving excellence in service delivery for New Brunswickers.

Service New Brunswick’s CEO, the executive management team and the board of directors will carefully review the recommendations and ensure required action plans with timelines are put in place for the organization. We will continue to take steps to ensure Service New Brunswick remains accountable and transparent in its operations.

To date, all 2,048 errors due the failure of quality control during last spring’s billing cycle have been corrected, and new bills were issued to those affected land owners in June and July. In addition, nearly 80 per cent of the more than 18,000 requests for reviews have been completed, and we are on target to complete all reviews by early in the new year. We want to thank our dedicated property assessment team for their hard work and professionalism during this difficult time.

Going forward, Service New Brunswick is committed to ensuring the highest property assessment industry standards are in place, our project management framework is consistently applied and that we clearly communicate more effectively about property assessment values with owners of property in New Brunswick.