Even though the requisition for seniors’ housing and education is down slightly, Westlock County ratepayers will be paying a bit more on their 2017 tax bill due to an increase in the residential and non-residential mill rate.
Westlock County councilors passed all three readings on the 2017 Property Tax Rate Bylaw during their April 25 meeting.
Councillors voted unanimously on a motion to conduct all three readings, though Coun. Bud Massey voted against passing each.
The new residential mill rate is 4.6856, while the mill rate for farmland is 22.5232. The tax rate for non-residential properties is 26.8085 mills. In comparison, the 2016 tax rate for residential properties was 4.5785 mills, while the farmland rate was 22.0082 mills. The non-residential tax rate was 26.1955 mills. The property tax rate bylaw is expected to generate $10.589 million to meet 2017 budget obligations.
In addition to the municipality’s portion of the tax rate, the 2017 requisition from Homeland Housing decreased slightly from 0.5489 mills in 2016 to 0.5363 mills.
While the education requisition has dropped slightly, the actual mill rate is going up somewhat. The education mill rate in 2016 was 2.5094 mills for residential and farmland properties and 3.9589 mills for non-residential properties.
This year, the education tax rate is 2.5237 mills for residential and farmland properties and 4.0495 mills for non-residential properties.
Based on an average assessed value of $250,000 on a property, ratepayers would pay an extra $27.20 more than in 2016.
The property tax bylaw is expected to raise $10.589 million to cover the county’s $19.5 million operating budget.
Chief administrative officer Leo Ludwig said the increase in property taxes was due to increased costs to the county from the carbon levy and responsibilities from provincial legislation, alongside reduced revenues from a weaker dollar and other factors.
“Probably the most significant one is the substantially diminished linear assessment base for the second year in a row,” he said in an e-mail, adding the county was adjusting to cutbacks in available grants.
Ludwig also noted the county’s aging infrastructure was mostly constructed in the 1950s and 60s.
Although the motion to do all three readings was passed unanimously, each reading was only passed by a vote of 6-1.
Coun. Bud Massey cast the dissenting vote against the mill rate increase each time. He said he didn’t believe this was the proper time to be increasing the ratepayers’ property taxes.
“It’s tough times,” he said. “We could have reduced expenditures. We don’t have a revenue problem — we have a spending problem.”
Council also passed the 2017-2018 operating capital budgets alongside the mill rate increase.
The 2017 operating budget includes $19.508 million in revenue and expenses, with a total municipal tax levy of $10.589 million.
Among the biggest changes in the operating budget was an increase in Health and Safety funding from $33,500 in 2016 to $152,600 in 2017, a difference of $119,000.
“(The change is) partially from legislative obligations and partially a shift and shuffle of duties of existing staff resources from other areas,” said Ludwig.
“This was an area that new administration identified as a part of our organization that required more resources to keep up to date with ever-increasing and continually-changing safety legislation, as well as moral obligations as an employer to do our best to provide an improved environment of safety for our staff and public.”
The county also increased its spending on recreation services from $633,529 in 2016 to $731,800 this year, an increase of roughly 20 per cent.
Ludwig explained that the change reflected increased costs to the county as well as finalizing past obligations from constructing the chalet and parking lot at the Tawatinaw Ski Hill.
The county has budgeted $200,000 to improve sidewalks in and budgeted $1.9 million for upgrades to the Jarvie Water Plant.
As part of the operating budget, council approved a transfer of $129,600 to the capital budget to cover the purchase of a new replacement fire tender, with the rest of the cash coming from reserves.
The 2017 capital budget includes total revenue and expenses of $7.285 million.
Separate from its recreation services fund in the operating budget, the county has earmarked $115,000 in its capital budget on work at the Tawatinaw Ski Hill, including completing the parking lot and drainage system, as well as installing air conditioning in the chalet.
