BOYLE — Boyle homeowners and business owners will see slight increases in their property tax bills this year after village councillors approved increases to both the non-residential mill rate and the residential and non-residential minimum payable amount.
Councillors voted to pass all three readings of the 2025 tax rate bylaw during their May 21 meeting. The new bylaw made no changes to the residential and farmland mill rates, sitting at 10.10 mills and 17.89 mills, respectively.
“We’re trying to be very aware of what is going on in the world. We’re all being hit with higher taxes, higher costs, lower wages,” said village Mayor Colin Derko.
Non-residential property will be taxed at 18.91 mills in 2025, up 1.3 points from last year’s rate. Despite the increase, Derko said retailers and service providers likely won’t be hit with much bigger bills.
“Our mill rate went up, but most businesses should see their numbers stay relatively the same from last years,” said Derko. The village’s 2025 assessment numbers came in below expectations, equating to an approximately $200,000 revenue shortfall for the municipality based on the budget passed in January.
During a special meeting, councillors and administration reviewed the budget and identified savings in the form of a matching grant contribution set aside for replacing the water system’s backup pump.
Council earmarked $182,750 in the operating budget, dependent on grant approval, as their contribution towards a new pump with funds to come from collected tax revenue. But rather than push the expense off or hike fees for residents, councillors opted to pull from savings.
“That’s why we put reserves away right?” said Derko. “This is a big project, it’s a million-dollar pump. And that’s what reserves are supposed to be there for.”
To make up the rest of the revenue shortfall, councillors and administration opted to increase the tax rate for non-residential, the category which saw the largest drop in assessment, by 1.5 mills. But after crunching the numbers, CAO Warren Griffin said an increase of 1.30 would suffice.
The minimum payable amount for non-residential and residential property, including in-park mobile homes and airport outbuildings, was increased by $50 across the board, bringing the new minimum tax rate to $550.
“We haven’t touched that in a lot of years and it needs to change, so we made that small adjustment as well,” said Derko.
Keeping costs steady while maintaining levels of service and completing improvement projects and infrastructure upgrades has been a priority for Derko and council, efforts he said seem to be working.
When assessing options for the 2025 tax rate, council asked administration to include comparisons to other municipalities of similar size. Derko said he and fellow councillors were satisfied with Boyle rank’s among the bottom half of lowest tax rates.
“That was refreshing, we had them do that for us just because we wanted to see where are we at, how are we doing?” said Derko. “It was a good exercise.”
With a potential second Canada Post strike in six months looming on the horizon, councillors and administration did consider how to be best prepared to distribute property tax notices smoothly.
Griffin said if the strike goes ahead, notices may be made available for pickup in the Village Office. Residents will be notified of the best method to receive their tax notice through a variety of different mediums as negoitations between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers continue.
“We’ll figure out a way,” said Derko. “Between Alertable and Facebook and our website and word of mouth … there is lots of ways to let people know.”
Tax payments are due to the village by Sept. 2, 2025. Payments left owing after Sept. 2 will be subject to a six per cent penalty, with further penalties for unpaid amounts added at the end of September, October, and January.
