Residents of Crossfield should be happy to hear their 2014 tax rate will decrease from last year.
Council approved the 2014 taxation bylaw at the May 6 meeting. The new tax rate for residential homes is set at 2.867 per cent, which is down 0.172 per cent from last year.
Non-residential taxes are also down from 4.201 per cent in 2013, to 4.178 per cent this year.
However, farmland is being included for the first time in this year’s taxation bylaw, with a rate of 12.783 per cent.
Mayor Nathan Anderson said the addition of the farmland rate in the bylaw was done to be more fair to residential homeowners because, historically, the farmland in the municipality has enjoyed a tax rate lower than that of town residents. He said council did not think it was fair that a quarter section of land was being taxed less than a house in the town.
“We took (the farmland tax rate) up according to precedents set in Calgary and other municipalities with the same issues,” Anderson said. “We needed to do something here to make things more fair to our other residents.”
He added the farmland tax rate is still low compared to other areas.
Crossfield’s tax rate decrease may have Rocky View County residents a little jealous as their tax rate increased by three per cent for 2014.
Property assessments for the County also increased this year with residential property value evaluated at a total assessment of $11,317,104,540 up from the 2013 assessed value of $10,942,002,720.
County farmland assessments increased to $153,237,860 from the 2013 assessed property value of $153,006,600.
County non residential property assessments increased to $2,959,635,630 up from 2013 value of $2,702,334,430.
“If I was a farmer I would be happy because it’s not a huge increase,” he said.
He said the tax rates were determined from the assessed value of the land, which increased from 2013, and by adjusting the taxes to keep them in line with inflation.
The assessment for residential land increased from more than $294 million in 2013 to more than $311 million this year.
For the non-residential land, the assessment increased from more than $664,000 in 2013 to more than $683,000 this year.
The assessment for the farmland for 2014 came in at $4,915
“Residents should be happy,” Anderson said, “but no more so than any other year because we’re all about keeping (the tax rate) tied to inflation.
