A mini housing boom in Lacombe helped city council trim taxes.
The city was anticipating a 3.6 per municipal cent tax increase after council did its budgeting in December.
That was before final assessment numbers were in, and they provided some good news. A big boost in new home and multi-residential construction drove a nearly 2.8 per cent assessment increase, well above the 1.5 per cent residential growth anticipated.
All that house building meant $147,000 more in taxes for the city, allowing council to lower its portion of the tax increase.
When a 6.3 per cent increase in school taxes is factored in, the combined tax increase for residents will be 3.3 per cent. On a typical home assessed at $284,000, the total tax bill will go up $87 to $2,636 from about $2,549.
A typical commercial property can expect a 1.8 per cent combined tax increase, when a school tax increase of almost 2.7 per cent is factored in.