Innisfail's 2016 Tax Rate Bylaw has been passed without any changes to town council's decision late last year to hold the line on municipal taxes.
Local property owners are getting their tax notices and assessments with the same zero per cent tax increase for 2016 that town council narrowly approved during budget deliberations late last year.
Mayor Brian Spiller, who originally wanted a one per cent hike, said the good tax news for citizens might not last beyond the fiscal year.
“I believe the ability to hold a tax rate at zero per cent (next year) will be very difficult or impossible with the carbon tax coming on and with the economy the way it is. It is, I'm sure, going to be a different story next year,” said Spiller, whose administration is still waiting for more answers from the provincial government to properly calculate the carbon tax impact when it comes into force on Jan. 1, 2017.
“The majority of people on council wanted a zero per cent mill rate increase and that is where the vote ended up, and I have no problem defending the vote, even if I was on the other side of the vote beforehand,” said Spiller of council's decision to leave the 2016 tax rate where council voted on and left it last December. “Once a vote has been made everyone should get on side with the democratic process and try to make it work. Even though I may have lost that vote, I didn't want to hinder or change it afterwords.”
The Tax Rate Bylaw for the current fiscal year was formally approved by town council at its regular meeting on April 25.
Mill rates remained unchanged from 2015, including those for residential, non-residential, senior foundation, as well as for machinery and equipment.
There was further good news from the province in that the school tax portion of the overall bills for taxpayers will show a slight decrease in the residential and non-residential school mill rates.
Heather Whymark, the town's director of corporate services, said last week after council's regular meeting that tax and assessment notices were immediately sent out to local residents to ensure they had them by the end of the week. Taxpayers will then have 60 days to file an appeal on or before June 30.
“They have hit the mail,” said Whymark, noting there was a bit of a time crunch this year. “We usually pass the bylaw a couple of weeks before this, but due to the provincial budget (April 14) they (government) would not release the school tax rate.”
Mayor Brian Spiller
"I believe the ability to hold a tax rate at zero per cent (next year) will be very difficult or impossible with the carbon tax coming on and with the economy the way it is. It is, I'm sure, going to be a different story next year."
