Red Deer city council gave first reading to a 2019 property tax bylaw on Monday that will see the average ratepayer pay $3,151 this year.
If approved, the combined tax hike, including municipal and provincial levies, will result in a total increase of 1.89 per cent for residential and non-residential properties and a 4.09 per cent increase for multi-family properties.
Joanne Parkin, revenue and assessment services manager for the city, explained the seeming discrepancy by noting multi-family properties have held their assessed value better than single-family properties.
“The city is required under legislation to collect education taxes for the province. Education tax makes up 28 per cent of an average home property tax bill this year,” said Parkin.
Since the provincial budget hasn’t been passed yet, city administrators had to estimate what the education tax increase would be, based on past averages.
If there’s a discrepancy, it will be rebalanced in next year’s taxes, said Parkin.
The 2019 Tax Rate Bylaw will collect $46.3 million on behalf of the government of Alberta.
According to the City of Red Deer’s approved 2019 operating budget, the proposed 2019 Property Tax Bylaw would collect $136.4 million in municipal taxes to fund programs and services.
This means a typical house assessed at $325,000 would see a tax increase of $4.26 per month for municipal tax, a 49 cent monthly increase in education taxes, and the Piper Creek Foundation levy would increase by 12 cents per month.
This brings the total tax increase to $4.87 per month under the proposed bylaw. The average taxpayer will be paying $58.44 more than last year.
This will mean an average annual tax bill of $3,151 — up from $3,092 in 2018.
Municipal taxes are essential to maintaining roads and parks, police and emergency services, said Parkin. “It’s about providing necessary services for our growing city.”
The tax rate bylaw will come back to council for second and third readings on April 29. Property taxes are due by Friday, June 28.