By Sheldon Spackman

Property tax rate increase for Lacombe County this year

May 14, 2018 | 11:41 AM

Residents of Lacombe County will be shelling out a little bit more to the taxman this year.

County Council has approved its operating and capital budgets for 2018 and they include a 2.5 per cent tax rate increase for residential properties and 4.5 per cent increase for farmland and non-residential properties over 2017 rates.

Based on the new rates, property taxes on a $400,000 residence in Lacombe County would be $2,006.60, an increase of $1.68 from 2017.

Officials say the $67.8 million operating budget includes over $11.3 million for the Alberta School Foundation Fund requisition and over $400,000 for the Lacombe Foundation requisition. An operating budget increase of over $2 million is also said to reflect increased costs related to inflation, increases in the carbon tax, as well as funding for new initiatives such as the RCMP enhanced position to help combat crime in the County.

The capital budget according to officials has increased $9.4 million to $28.9 million from last year to accommodate several major paving projects. Those paving projects include the Alix North Road, Sandy Point Road and Centerview Road, as well as Lacombe County’s contribution towards water/wastewater services the lands adjacent to the Highway 2 and Highway 12 interchange.

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“As a Council, we have the challenge of examining the major projects that our County requires in order to support growth and development in the near and distant future,” says Reeve Paula Law in a press release. “Our goal is always to balance our desire to keep taxes low with the realities of providing a high level of municipal services.”

Law concludes, “The 2018 operating budget, capital budget and municipal tax rates have been established in a manner which provides for cost-effective delivery of County services and programs for our citizens.”