WESTLOCK – Westlock County councillors have followed through on their pledge to hold the line on municipal taxes, unanimously approving a zero per cent increase for 2022 that, combined with modest increases to assessment across the board, will see most ratepayers facing slightly-higher tax bills.
At their regular May 10 meeting, councillors voted 7-0 to pass the county’s 2022 operating budget and property tax bylaw as the municipality had been using an interim operating budget since Dec. 14, 2021 — the county is expecting to generate $11,785,703 via municipal taxes this year.
Reeve Christine Wiese said they were “proud” to pass the operating budget and tax bylaw without a mill rate increase calling it “very good news” with Coun. Isaac Skuban noting it was “pretty much the opposite of what me and Coun. (Jared) Stitsen have been seeing for the past three years.”
“I want to congratulate my fellow councillors for what we’ve done here, I think it’s truly fantastic. And I want to thank administration for their support in achieving council’s goals, I think it’s fantastic,” said Coun. Stuart Fox-Robinson.
“I agree 100 per cent. Good job,” chimed in Coun. Sherri Provencal.
In a May 12 follow-up interview Wiese, gave credit to administration “as we couldn’t do it without them” for helping make the zero per cent increase a reality.
“It’s a huge accomplishment especially for this council and it feels amazing. Right from the start we unanimously decided that we wanted to put the residents first and let them know that they matter,” said Wiese. “We know the last few years have been hard on families and businesses. The zero per cent property tax increase was something right from the start of the budget deliberations that we wanted to accomplish.”
Although the tax rate across all categories remains flat, interim CAO Pat Vincent noted that ratepayers may still face a hike on their tax bills due to an across-the-board assessment increase. Presenting the operating budget to council, finance director Peggy Hardinge noted residential assessment increased by an average of 4.5 per cent, up versus a projected three per cent jump. Non-residential assessment increased by an average of five per cent compared to the forecasted decrease of 10 per cent with the largest change in “designated industrial machinery and equipment.”
“There can any number of reasons that would increase assessment. That’s where you might get some comments,” said Vincent.
“That’s a little frustrating that some may see a tax increase due to assessment, but that’s not really within our control,” added Wiese.
Ultimately that jump in assessment will lead to an additional $451,118 in revenue, money council has agreed to place in general operating reserves — Hardinge told Stitsen they recommended the general reserve placement as the county’s financial stabilization reserve is capped.
“Having that cushion is nice and now we need to work on getting some more economic development going within the county,” said Wiese.
By the numbers
Simply, what a person pays in property tax on their home, farm or business is the mill rate, multiplied by the value of their property, then divided by 1,000.
In 2021, a home valued at $250,000 would have paid $1,298.20 in municipal taxes, while if it rises by 4.5 per cent to $261,250, the property tax bill will be $1,356.62.
The mill rate for residential and residential-resort is 5.1928, while residential-farm is 6.3359. The farmland mill rate is 28, non-residential is 28.6087 and non-residential campground is 20.2912. The mill rate for linear, designated industrial, designated industrial M&E and machinery and equipment is 28.6087.
In addition, the Homeland Housing requisition mill rate for all classifications is .6066, up from .5936 in 2021 and is expected to generate $614,486.78 for the organization. The Alberta Education mill rate for residential, residential-resort, residential-farm and farmland is 2.5404, down from 2.6773 and then jumps to 3.7516 for the remainder of the classes (the 2021 rate was 4.0679) and will generate $2,802,297.35 for the province.
Both Homeland Housing and the province set their mill rates independently of the county.
Finally, combining all the requisitions, the 2022 all-in tax rate for residential and residential-resort is 8.3398, while residential-farm is 9.4829, both lower that the 2021 rates of 8.4637 and 9.6068.
So, a home valued at $250,000 in 2021 would have paid a total of $2,115.93 in taxes, while in 2022 that property will be valued at $261,250 and the total bill will be $2,178.77.
Farmland comes in at 31.1470, down slightly from 31.2709 in 2021, while non-residential is 32.9669, also down from 33.2702, and non-residential campground is 24.6494.
Linear and designated industrial comes in at 33.0435, while designated industrial M&E and machinery and equipment sits at 29.2919 — all these categories include a designated properties requisition of .0766.
Five-to-one tax gap
Hardinge and Vincent noted the county still must address an outstanding five-to-one gap between commercial and residential property tax mill rates, a figure that’s mandated under the Municipal Government Act.
Vincent said they’ll be presenting options to council at upcoming meetings on a “realistic and achievable” plan to address the gap as the municipality will begin work on the 2023 budget in June. The only way to address the gap, Vincent confirmed, will be to drop the non-residential rate.
“We are outside of that slightly. She (Hardinge) and I are working on a strategy that will permit this council by the end of their term to have a huge success story in terms of bringing that ration within the legislation,” said Vincent.
“There are three approaches to it. One, do it all at once. Two, do it on a more moderate approach, and three, to do it slowly over a period of time that gives clear direction in terms of your budgeting process.
“I like to get things done, however, when it comes to the fiscal affairs for the municipality, I can be very conservative to ensure there’s a long-term plan stable going forward. In this situation I’m of the opinion to take the middle road so you can accomplish this in your term.”
