WESTLOCK — The combined 2024 tax rate for residential ratepayers in Westlock County is very slightly down from last year, dropping by a little over 0.1 mills from the 2023 tax rate of 8.4518 to the 2024 rate of 8.3436 mills.
During their April 23 meeting, Westlock County councillors passed all three readings on the 2024 Tax Rate Bylaw. They were also required to vote unanimously on a third reading, which they did.
As noted in the report to council on the bylaw, the total municipal levy requirement to fund the 2024 operating and capital budgets is $11.6 million. That includes the additional taxes realized from an increase to assessment.
For reference, the county had projected to collect $11.2 million in taxes back in 2023 to fund its operating and capital budgets, a difference of about $400,000. That 2023 amount itself was a decrease of about $568,000 from the amount of taxes collected in 2022.
In 2024, the municipal tax rate for residential properties is 5.2975 mills, while the farm residential tax rate is 6.464 mills.
The tax rate for farmland is 25 mills, while the non-residential tax rate is 23.5 mills. This is also the tax rate for linear assessment, electrical power generation and a variety of other assessment classes.
However, it must be stressed that these municipal tax rates do not factor in the Homeland Housing requisition of $687,000 or the education requisition of $2.8 million.
That equals a Homeland Housing tax rate of 0.6182 mills on all types of assessments and an education tax rate of 2.4270 on residential assessments and 3.4004 on non-residential assessments.
The 2024 municipal tax rates also don’t factor in a designated industrial properties requisition of $10,800, which is applied only to those specific assessments.
When you include those requisitions, the combined total tax rate is 8.3436 for residential properties, 9.5101 for farm residential properties, 28.0461 mills for farmland, 27.5186 mills for non-residential properties and 27.5951 for linear assessments.
Assessments up
Even with the combined tax rate going down slightly, at least for residential properties, because of inflationary pressures, some ratepayers will see their taxes go up from last year due to an increase in their property assessment.
Director of finance Peggy Hardinge used the example of a residential property assessed at $500,000 in 2023, which she noted is a fairly average residential assessment. Based on the 2023 combined tax rate of 8.4518 mills, that residential property-owner would owe roughly $4,225 in taxes that year.
In 2024, that assessment has likely gone up, with the average increase being about 3.6 per cent, or about $18,000. Hardinge said this is dependent on whether the property has undergone major changes, such as adding or removing buildings.
Now, as a result of that increased assessment, that same residential taxpayer would owe the county roughly $4,322 in taxes, which is an increase of around $100. That is in spite of the combined tax rate decreasing to 8.3436 mills in 2024.
Noting assessments were also high last year, Coun. Sherry Provencal asked how they could communicate to the public that the county is trying to keep tax rates down, but their taxes may still be going up because of higher assessments.
“Some of these assessments, I think, are getting to the level of ... not realistic,” she said.
Reeve Christine Wiese acknowledged the difficulty of arriving at reasonable tax rates when assessment levels are swaying so far, year after year.
“It’s kind of hard for council to find a rate when we don’t have ...(any) control over assessments,” she said. “We’re being very frugal, I think, with our budgets ... and it’s hard when the assessments come in higher."
Wiese also pointed out that increasing assessments are also a good thing, as it means the value of properties is going up.
Coun. Isaac Skuban added that assessments are on the rise everywhere, not just in Westlock County.
Wiese said some other municipalities have put out YouTube videos explaining how taxes are broken down and why individual taxes may be going up.
“I’m sure we can come up with something similar,” she said, suggesting that they leave it up to administration to come up with something.
Coun. Jared Stitsen said he tries to remind people that their tax bills also include the education and senior housing requisitions.
“If people have specific issues with the school taxes as an example, then they should take those (issues) up with that entity,” added Coun. Stuart Fox-Robinson.
Hardinge said she had done up a simple chart in the past demonstrating what tax amounts are going to various entities.
