BARRHEAD - It is official, the Town of Barrhead mill rate will increase by 1.8 per cent in 2023.
On April 11, councillors approved Bylaw 04-2023, a.k.a. the property tax bylaw in three straight readings.
The increase brings the residential property tax rate to 8.6301 per cent and the non-residential to 14.3441 per cent.
However, the increase should not come as a surprise to ratepayers. In early January council approved the final 2023 operating and capital budgets, which incorporated the increase.
Under the province's Municipal Government Act, the mill rate is approved separately as part of the Property Tax Bylaw, despite being an integral part of the budget process.
The bylaw also sets the 2023 tax payment deadline as June 30 and the penalty for late payment at 12 per cent.
It is also worth mentioning the increase is only to the municipal portion of residents' tax bills as other portions of a tax bill, such as the school and the designated industrial requisitions, are set by the province and the social housing requisition is set by the Barrhead and District Social Housing Association (BDSHA).
Corporate service director Jennifer Mantay said the tax increase, the first since 2019, was needed to maintain the current municipal service levels.
The 2023 taxable assessments came in $10,415,300 higher than 2022.
Roughly 75 per cent of the increase came from non-residential properties, while the remaining 25 per cent was from residential.
Based on the increase, Mantay said the municipality expected to bring in an additional $135,000 in property taxes between 2022 and 2023.
"Which is actually $95,000 higher than when the budget was approved in January," she said.
Mantey explained the difference is due to higher than expected assessments of non-residential properties and machinery and equipment and suggested that council consider transferring the surplus funds to capital reserves at the year to build up the fund for future projects.
She noted that despite the increase in the mill rate, 92 per cent of residential properties will either experience a slight decrease in the municipal portion of their property taxes or an increase of less than $100.
For non-residential property owners, 71 per cent will see either a slight decrease or an increase of less than $200 in the municipal portion of their property tax bill.
For the school requisition, which the municipality collects on behalf of the province, Mantey said that overall the town will collect about $50,000 less from ratepayers due to a slight reduction in the Alberta School Foundation Fund (ASFF) rate.
For residential properties, this means there will be a $7.36 decrease for every $100,000 in assessment, while non-residential properties will see a reduction of $36.70 per $100,000 of assessed value.
Residents will also see a 43-cent reduction per $100,000 of assessed value on their residential and non-residential tax bills.
Owners of residential and non-residential properties will also see a minimal 18-cent decrease per $100,000 of assessed value for the Barrhead Regional Aquatics Centre debenture.
Chief administrative officer Edward LeBlanc noted that the municipality receives regular updates from Alberta Municipalities (AM) about how other municipalities are to balaning their operating budgets, and the Town of Barrhead compares favourably.
"You see three, four and five per cent increases (to their mill rates)," he said. "So for our administration team to be able to keep it down to 1.8 per cent and for the majority of our residential property owners to see less than a $100 increase in (the municipal portion) of their tax bills is a cause of celebration."
Coun. Ty Assaf agreed, saying the last three years have been difficult, and for administration staff to keep the tax increase to under two per cent after two years of no increases is impressive.
"No one likes tax increases, but keeping it so minuscule is truly a point to celebrate," he said.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
