DIDSBURY - Council has approved the 2023 tax rate bylaw, which calls for residential and farmland mill rates of 7.437, down 7.3 per cent from 2022.
The vote came during the regularly scheduled May 9 council meeting, held in person and on YouTube. The bylaw received first reading last month.
The non-residential rate is 8.730, a decrease of 3.5 per cent from last year.
Residential and farmland assessment values in town have increased by 12.2 per cent from 2022 totals, with non-residential assessment values also increasing, by 8.2 per cent, council heard.
Under the bylaw, a house with an assessment of $293,650 would, for example, have a tax bill of $2,184 an increase of 3.8 per cent or $80 from 2022.
A non-residential property with an assessment of $667,710 would have a tax bill of $5,829, up 2.2 per cent or $124 from 2022.
The average assessment for a single-family residential property in town in 2023 is $290,500, while the average assessment for a non-residential property is $456,000.
Under the bylaw, the tax split is 85.6 per cent residential and 14.4 non-residential.
The 2023 operating budget was passed earlier, with a four per cent increase to revenues from taxes.
The education property tax requisition for 2023 is $1,679,413, an increase of 8.8 per cent from 2022’s total of $1,542,995.
The Mountain View Seniors' Housing requisition for 2023 is $253,765, a 25.6 per cent increase from 2022.
Tax penalty bylaw changes OK'd
Meanwhile, council also approved the updated tax penalty bylaw, which imposes five per cent penalties on July 1, Sept. 1 and Nov. 1.
Previously penalties were imposed at five per cent on Sept. 1, Oct. 1 and Nov. 1.
The change was made to give 60 days between penalties to pay the unpaid taxes. Under the bylaw the structure of the arrears penalty remains unchanged.
The updated bylaw also includes the following new wording: “Any tax levied from the current year, remaining unpaid after June 30, are subject to penalties on the first business day of July or thirty days after the taxation notice mailing date, which is later.”
Coun. Ethan Williams did not attend the May 9 council meeting.
