Red Deer County will hold the line on taxes.
No tax rate increase is proposed in 2016, according to the numbers outlined in a tax bylaw given first reading by council on Tuesday.
The move reflects council’s commitment to limit the tax burden at a time when Alberta’s economy is struggling, said Mayor Jim Wood.
“To be able to make the statement, that it’s going to be zero, is really important in these economic times,” said Wood.
Some residents may still pay more in municipal taxes when they get their tax bills next month. If a property’s assessment increased in the year ending last summer, when calculations are made, taxes will go up.
However, for most there is expected to be minimal impact given the assessment numbers the county has seen.
“We’re not seeing a huge change in the assessment. We’re seeing localized ups and downs,” said Wood.
Coun. Philip Massier was also pleased to see a tax rate freeze, jokingly suggesting councillors won’t be cornered by irate ratepayers.
“It should be easy having coffee tomorrow when we can say our tax increase is zero,” he said.
On residential properties, the county’s tax rate works out to $374.06 per $100,000 of assessment. The owner of a property assessed at $400,000 can expect to pay $1,496 on the municipal portion of their bill.
Special levies to support community services, protective services and for environmental projects also remained unchanged.
The county was able to keep its taxes in check by managing expenses. The $76-million budget is up only slightly over the year prior.
As well, unlike some municipalities, the county was not hit by a steep increase in the amount of money it must collect for schools on behalf of the province. Red Deer County saw only a 2.56 per cent increase in the school requisition, compared with 10.2 per cent in Calgary, where the issue generated controversy and led to a total tax bill increase of over six per cent.