BOWDEN -- Councillors have ratified the town's budget, now that property assessments have been determined.
"(In) residential (properties) there was a slight increase to the mill rate, as the assessments are down. This being said, most residential properties will not see much difference on their taxes," chief financial officer Jacqui Molyneux wrote in an email to Mountain View Publishing.
"As for commercial property tax, there was a two per cent increase from last year's budget."
Councillors passed the tax rate bylaw unanimously.
During an appearance before town councillors recently, Molyneux said the difference is "very minimal," because it's based on the overall budget, as opposed to the mill rate.
The mill rate represents the amount per $1,000 of the assessed value of property and is used by municipalities to determine the amount of property tax required.
"I mean as far as any increase, it's better to do it on the total budget than on the residential or non-residential because then you're not (creating) a big increase in the mill rate," Molyneux said.
"I remember one year we decided to make business more attractive so we lowered the business mill rate by three and we put a five increase on the residential and it got so stupid," Mayor Robb Stuart said.
