Revenues generated through linear taxation in rural communities will not be funnelled to major urban centres, according to Municipal Affairs Minister Danielle Larivee.
Linear taxes are collected on such things as pipelines and power lines. Currently those taxes remain in the communities where they are generated.
The ongoing review of the province's Municipal Government Act (MGA) is looking at linear taxation, among other things.
The Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMDC), which includes Mountain View and Red Deer counties, has been encouraging the government to keep the linear taxation system unchanged.
Contacted by the Gazette for comment on the review and specifically linear taxation, Minister Larivee provided the following statements:
“I have heard from many municipalities across the province on this issue and I have been very clear that we will not be funnelling linear assessment dollars to Calgary, Edmonton or any other city,” she said.
“Linear dollars will stay in rural communities, serving rural Albertans. In our platform we promised to review linear assessment to ensure it was meeting the needs of all rural Albertans and all rural communities.
“Our objective is clear: to keep rural Alberta healthy and strong and to ensure services for rural Albertans are accessible and sustainable. Nothing in the linear assessment review will jeopardize that objective.”
When the draft results of the MGA review are released, perhaps this spring, the government will be consulting with stakeholders, she said.
“When we share the outcome of the linear assessment review, it will be draft only and Albertans will have an opportunity to fully engage before the final decision is made,” she said.
“When we were elected we continued with the review, but made sure the focus was on ensuring rural Alberta stays strong and that rural Albertans have the infrastructure and services they need.
“This is the excerpt on linear assessment from our platform: ‘We'll ensure rural communities have access to needed health care, education and infrastructure services. As part of this commitment, we will sit down with local government stakeholders to review the question of linear assessment'.”
Wildrose Municipal Affairs critic Pat Stier has called on the government to “set the record straight on how linear assessment and machinery and equipment taxes will be distributed among both rural and urban municipalities.”
