The provincial education requisition for Penhold has increased $60,000 over expectations according to the mayor.
Mayor Dennis Cooper said the requisition for Penhold is going up 11.8 per cent – about $60,000 more than the town had originally estimated. Cooper was not sure of the original estimate the town expected.
The requisition is for the school property taxes, which are collected by the municipality on behalf of the province at the same time the municipal property taxes are collected. The town does not control the school property tax rate.
“For a number of years the province did keep the mill rate exactly the same,” Cooper said.
He explained there are two reasons for the $60,000 increase to the school property tax. He said about $40,000 of it is just due to new growth over 2011. The other $20,000 “is actually an increase.”
Cooper said the school property tax section of people's tax bills might increase by about $20. He emphasized it depended on the home's assessment.
Cooper said the increase will affect the mill rate.
“We know that the mill rate's going to go up,” he said. “We haven't done those calculations yet.”
The $60,000 increase to Penhold is part of the $107-million increase to the school requisition amount announced as part of the provincial budget on Feb. 9. The jump is the highest in 20 years. The budget shows the provincial government plans to raise about $1.8 billion from education property taxes.
The issue of perception around the education property taxes being collected by municipalities was raised during the Feb. 27 council meeting by Coun. Danielle Klooster, who noted “people typically struggle to even understand how the taxes work.”
“We have no control over it but we're going to be the ones on the receiving end of concerns,” she said.
