Agrium has notified the IT employees at a specific campus that they have to provide a list of computers that they use and where they're located. Not a big issue; normal asset tracking, right? Well, they say that the reason is so that they can file property taxes. Sounds kind of fishy since they're only asking the group that's being outsourced and they're doing it shortly after the announcement. If they really are collecting information for fixed assets, why are they asking for individuals to provide that information? Since reporting fixed assets required the date an item was purchased along with whether or not it was new or used and if it's been sold or disposed of, that's information that the individual isn't going to have. They'd have to go back through purchase orders to find that information along with checking the disposal records. It seems that the company would also want to report on monitors, printers, phones, etc. if this was really the reason they're asking for the information.
Since this is the first time they've ever asked for this information it seems more like they're worried about equipment disappearing. That's understandable, just try something new in this whole process and be honest about what you're doing.