Airdrie households will receive slightly smaller tax bills at the end of May following City council's decision to unanimously approve three readings of a tax rate bylaw that includes a tax decrease for residential properties.
“At this time, I think it’s prudent we move on and approve what we have already agreed upon in previous meetings,” said Coun. Candice Kolson.
At a regular meeting May 19, Shannon Schindeler, manager of Treasury, outlined an average decrease of $41.61 in municipal and education taxes for homeowners in 2020, as well as a $102-per-year average increase for businesses.
Though council initially approved a 1.51 per cent property tax increase in its budget in January, Schindeler said the decrease in the assessed value of an average home in Airdrie from $405,000 to $385,000, as well as the Alberta government’s education tax adjustment, will result in property taxes being slightly lower than first thought.
“While the province held the education tax rate static in 2020, Airdrie’s growth resulted in an overall increase to our requisition in the amount of $948,000,” she said. “However, last year, the provincial budget was not released until October, and every municipality had to estimate the 2019 requisition amounts.”
Schindeler said the City over-estimated the requisition amount in 2019 and over-levied $836,000. When this over-levy was taken into account for the 2020 calculations, it “almost eliminates the 2020 increase,” she said.
As per the approved bylaw, the average homeowner in Airdrie will experience a decrease of $2.65 a year in municipal tax, according to Schindeler. Homeowners will also see a drop in education taxes of $38.97 per year.
“Due to our growth in the number of parcels, the burden of education taxes can be spread amongst more parties, which further lowers the effect on each resident and results in a decrease in education taxes for the majority of properties in 2020,” she said.
Comparing Airdrie’s tax rates to other cities in Alberta, she said Airdrie residents will pay an average of $1,822 a year in municipal taxes, compared to roughly $2,700 in Red Deer or Medicine Hat.
In St. Albert and Lethbridge, she said, homeowners would pay an average of $3,200 or $3,400. Grande Prairie homeowners, meanwhile, would pay more than $3,800 in municipal taxes every year.
While Airdrie homeowners will be getting some respite on their property tax bills this year, the opposite is true for local businesses. Regarding non-residential properties, Schindeler said business owners should expect to pay about $8.50 more per month – or $102 per year – in 2020.
“It is not as easy to compare the median non-residential property as a residential property, due to the pool being significantly smaller and the type of property in this class being much more diverse,” she said. “However, the majority of non-residential properties have seen little to no change in assessed values, year over year.”
Coun. Al Jones wondered if there was anything the City could do to give businesses more tax relief.
“It’s not a large increase – only $100 a year – but man, it’s like we can’t cut our businesses a break, even when there’s a break for everyone else, ” he said. “I don’t know if we can maybe start looking at mill rates, or if that’s going to average down, if it’s on a three-year rolling [average].“
According to Schindeler, non-residential propoerties, like residential properties, are assessed every July. She added assessment uses three years of historical data to come up with assessment values, and any effect to property values seen in 2020 will be reflected in the 2021 assessments.
Regarding mill rates, she said those are “a pure calculation based on the dollars it takes to operate a municipality divided by the total assessed value within the city.“
Tax notices are scheduled to be mailed May 29. A tax brochure will be inserted with each notice, Schindeler said, and is also available at airdrie.ca.
Schindeler's presentation also touched on tax relief measures the City has implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which included waiving the April and July penalties for all property owners, and postponing the August penalty until October.
Property owners are also able to cancel their monthly tax payment plans without penalty, Schindeler added, as long as they rejoin the plan prior to October.
“This gives residents experiencing any financial distress three more months to pay their property taxes, penalty free,” she said. “Administration will continue to monitor the effects of COVID-19 and any recommendations from the province in order to bring further recommendations for relief to council as the pandemic continues.”
According to Schindeler, the City has seen a number of households opt out, of monthly tax payments, resulting in about $300,000 less in monthly revenue, though she added numbers have plateaued and remained steady in the last two weeks.
Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19
