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Province to take 35 per cent of Banff's overall tax levy

“In essence, our piece of the pie is growing, so we’re going to pick up a bigger portion of the education tax levy, which is disappointing in this year when obviously the opposite has happened,” said Chris Hughes, Banff's corporate services director.
Banff Town Hall 2
Banff Town Hall

BANFF – The provincial government’s school tax requisition will account for about 35 per cent of residents’ tax bills this year, leading to a three per cent jump to the overall tax levy from 2019 levels.

Because of the financial fallout associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and the drastic effects that had on the municipality’s 2020 budget, the Town of Banff used 2019 as a base year when budgeting.

The municipal levy dropped 17 per cent from 2019 to 2020 and will increase by 14 per cent this year, meaning the 2021 tax levy of $19.6 million will be five per cent below the 2019 municipal tax level.

The provincial education requisition for Banff, which the municipality is required to collect for the province, increased 16 per cent from 2019 to 2020 and will increase another five per cent this year for a total levy of just over $10 million.

Town of Banff officials say the education levy, therefore, will be 22 per cent above 2019 levels, and accounts for about 35 per cent of the overall tax levy.

They say they are anticipating a 45 per cent increase to the Bow Valley Regional Housing levy; however, the $551,509 requisition makes up a small portion of the overall tax levy.

“The overall levy will increase by about three per cent from 2019 with all of these factors,” said Chris Hughes, the director of corporate services for the Town of Banff.

The Alberta government’s education property tax requisition, announced in its 2021 budget on Feb. 25, is being frozen at the 2020-21 amount for 2021-22, which is $180 million lower than the forecasts in budget 2020.

This follows a reversal of the $87 million requisition increase, based on population growth and inflation, contemplated in budget 2020 for 2020-21. Education property tax revenue is forecast at $2.5 billion in 2021-22.

The Alberta government will continue to review the school tax requisition each year.

Where the Town of Banff feels the impact, however, is the allocation of the total amount based on the province’s equalized assessment model amongst various municipalities.

The province also used 2019 assessments for the 2021 provincial education tax levy.

Hughes said in that time the average assessments across Alberta dropped by about 0.4 per cent, whereas Banff saw increases of about four per cent on residential properties and 8.5 per cent on non-residential properties.

“In essence, our piece of the pie is growing, so we’re going to pick up a bigger portion of the education tax levy, which is disappointing in this year when obviously the opposite has happened,” he said.

“Our assessment has probably dropped at a greater rate than the average of the the province, but we won’t see that impact until future years.”

Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) officials say they are relieved the provincial government did not follow through with its planned increase to education property taxes.

But AUMA President Barry Morishita said the Alberta government still takes more than 30 cents of every dollar that residents and businesses pay in municipal property taxes.

“This leaves a gap in expectations for citizens, who assume their municipal taxes will be used to pay for local services and infrastructure,” he said.

“The education property tax requirement also impacts local economic development, as a significant portion of citizens’ taxes leave their communities.”


Cathy Ellis

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