WESTLOCK — The Town of Westlock is holding the line on its mill rate this year but despite the tax rates not changing, people may still pay more taxes due to a higher assessment.
At the April 22 regular meeting, councillors voted to keep the tax rate the same as 2023 by passing first, second and third reading of the new tax rate bylaw
Director of finance Julia Seppola said that an average home in Westlock worth $265,000 in 2023 will see an increase to the assessment value of $10,123 or 2.82 per cent. The total tax increase will be about $109 per year or $9.08 per month.
"You’ll see that the effect to a residential home of $265,000, all things taken into account … you’ll see that they see a change of $109 a year,” said Seppola in a presentation to councillors. “There is also included in this since 2018 a $50 minimum tax payable.”
As indicated in the 2024 operating budget, the town will collect 3.9 percent more tax revenue on residential properties and improved non-residential rates than last year.
Town of Westlock chief operating officer Simone Wiley noted that doing so was really “about economic development.”
“We have to pass a tax rate bylaw every year, we need to send out tax bills and get that revenue in,” said Wiley, noting tax bills are a bit different this year with a focus on economic development.
“We know that that has been something that we’ve been very focused on, council and administratively, and so the decisions that are noted or recommended within this report on our mill rates follow that same thought process of encouraging and incentivizing development within our community.”
Seppola noted details of assessment changes, including education and seniors requisition amounts, required an amendment to the operating budget. Councillors decided to use inflationary growth and real growth from 2023 to hold the mill rate in 2024 to invest back into the community and provide some stability to ratepayers.
This year the education tax is up by 3.0 per cent, noted Seppola, pointing out “residential education tax is a bit lower this year and non-residential is a bit higher so it works out to about three per cent overall.” Homeland Housing requisition tax is up by 4.6 per cent and the designated industrial property tax requisition is up by 7.7 per cent.
“We don’t know what they are in December, we have to wait for the province and the different requisition bodies to set their collection rates,” said Seppola. “As you can see in the amendments, some of them are increased, and some of them are decreased, and these are reflective of the tax rate bylaw, which is the second part of the equation in this report tonight.”
Seppola said the tax rate bylaw proposes to “leave the tax rates the same” this year and explained some of the reasoning behind the move, adding that non-residential rates being held to the same were a bit different, in that they didn’t see the same market growth but there was “a real growth that occurred in that sector of around $60,000.”
“After looking at the numbers and the increases, it became evident that an opportunity presented itself to leave both mill rates the same, with a little nudge from the real growth and also some additional savings that were found within the operating budget itself,” she said, adding the insurance (costs) were not as high as estimated and the policing contract was lower.
The town also took into account the non-residential tax incentive program and two businesses that applied were granted 100 per cent exemption and 75 per cent exemption, which came to $29,000.
“So both of those were also taken into account in this (operating budget) amendment,” said Seppola.
“It increases our competitiveness with our neighbours for non-residential,” she added, noting it also provides an opportunity for council or administration to work “with people considering purchasing land to bring on new development.”
