By Alessia Proietti

Two per cent overall tax increase

Red Deer County council gives first reading to 2022 tax rate bylaw

May 3, 2022 | 5:58 PM

Red Deer County council gave first reading to an amended Tax Rate & Minimum Tax Bylaw for 2022 with a two per cent increase on overall municipal tax rates.

The bylaw highlights the recommended tax rates for municipal purposes, seniors housing, policing, designated industrial property and the provincially prescribed education rates. This bylaw also gives the municipality authority to levy a minimum tax.

Based on the 2021 property assessment values, administration says the County has seen an increase of approximately $138 million, mainly due to the rise in residential development permits. They also claim to see an increase in all assessment classifications translating to around $832,000 in taxation growth.

“This will assist with the four to six per cent inflation that we are already experiencing,” administration said in the meeting’s agenda.

A two per cent increase in overall municipal taxes was agreed upon by council.

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“Due to inflation, a two per cent increase in overall municipal taxes is necessary to continue and maintain the level of service delivery county residents and ratepayers have come to expect,” said Mayor Jim Wood.

Administration also recommended a 1.95 per cent increase to special levies. Community Services supports the development and sustainability of facilities, projects, and programs aimed to benefit residents, such as meal programs, recreation, and more. Protective Services include fire and search and rescue, county patrol and emergency management.

Claiming the service areas have been underfunded for the past three years in attempts to “hold the line” on tax increases, Protective Services were recommended to increase from a a rate of 0.65 to 0.75 and Community Services from 0.60 to 0.70.

Councillor Philip Massier proposed an amendment to reduce the increase on Community Services by 0.05 while maintaining the Protection Services increase of 0.1.

Councillor Christine Moore proposed another amendment to reduce both service increases to 0.05.

“People are still emerging from this pandemic and the struggles and we want to support and be responsive to our residents,” she said.

Councillors debated if community services would be reduced following a levy of 0.05, however, administration confirmed the associated budget had enough funds to support current levels.

Administration also confirmed the County could afford vehicles for the fire department with a 0.05 levy by utilizing funds from the general reserves.

Meantime, there will be an additional one per cent increase due to provincial requisitions for Education and Policing, beyond the control of municipal government.

For education property taxes based on assessment values, the 2022 rates increased $318,495 from 2021. Residential & Farm Education tax rates increased from 2.5997 to 2.6285. Non-Residential tax rates decreased from 3.9184 to 3.8809.

For Policing, the provincial government mandated that all municipalities participate in a three-year phased police costing model. Increasing by $272,973 for 2022, the police levy has been calculated at 0.1487 compared to 2021’s 0.1378.

Other levies include the Seniors Housing Levies, charged from the Parkland Seniors Foundation. Administration recommends a decrease of $419, from 0.0199 to 0.0194.

The Designated Industrial Property (DIP) levy reflects the cost to administer the new and required provincial program to centralize all DIP assessment. The requisition is the same as 2021 at 0.0766.

A minimum tax levy of $25 is deemed enough by administration to cover the administration costs of providing the Combined Assessment and Tax notice to county property owners.

“I’m very, very optimistic that we’re at a stage now where we’re going to start to see growth happen. That growth as it comes in, that is often what’s kept our tax rate low over the last number of years,” said Mayor Jim Wood. “We’re hoping that we’re not going to the see these rates increase every year but I’m very hopeful that this is going to be a one-off to get us back to normal again.”

A six per cent penalty will be applied to any unpaid balance on July 1 and November 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. For those currently enrolled in a Monthly Tax Installment Plan, the county says no additional payment is required at this time.

The amended bylaw will be discussed at council’s May 17 meeting for public input, second and third reading.

Taxes are due on June 30. For more information, contact Red Deer County Centre at 403-350-2150 or visit rdcounty.ca.