CANMORE – A large jump in property assessment in Canmore has the median residential property within eyeshot of $1 million.
In a preliminary report to Canmore committee of the whole Tuesday (April 18), the latest property assessments had the median residential assessment jump from $800,000 to $969,000 in one of the highest increases in recent years.
The number comes in as Canmore council prepares to approve its 2023 property tax rates at its May 2 meeting to bring the Town one step closer to putting the latest municipal budget to bed.
“As we saw last year, and even in the recent trends, real estate demand in Canmore remains strong throughout the market as buyers have accustomed to the higher lending levels. … It draws a lot of interest from buyers segments from all over Canada,” said Palki Biswas, the Town’s finance manager.
In addition to the overall residential properties median assessment nearing $1 million, the median assessment for single detached homes went from $997,000 in 2022 to $1.21 million for a 21.5 per cent increase. The median assessment for condos went from $720,000 in 2022 to $756,000 for a five per cent jump.
Biswas said the data shown at the Tuesday meeting was as of April 6 and could change slightly due to any assessments that are revised up until April 24.
Property tax rates are set for council consideration May 2. The rates are required to be passed before the mailing date of May 15.
For a home valued at $969,000, it’ll mean $165.58 per month or an annual municipal tax bill of $1,987. However, Biswas said each property would have its own assessment price, meaning it could be below or above the $969,000 figure and annual municipal tax bill.
“It is important to note an average is not necessarily indicative of any individual specific property or specific tax burden,” she said. “Properties with assessment changes below or above average will see lower or higher taxes increase or decrease.”
Property assessments are completed by Benchmark Assessments Consultants Inc. and done separately from the Town. Properties are assessed and taxed based on the economic condition as of July 1 and the condition as of Dec. 31, 2022.
Though the assessments across Canmore have increased, as of April 18 there were 18 appeals filed – with one already withdrawn. All are all residential properties compared to 54 in 2022. Of those 54, 45 were resolved prior to the hearing.
Council approved its 2023-24 operating budget in December, with a 12.5 per cent increase set for 2023 and 5.5 per cent in 2024.
The total approved operating budget was $68.3 million in 2023 and the capital budget was $37.2 million. The amount of municipal taxes collected is set at $32 million for a $3.91 million increase from 2022. Of those, $20.77 million will come from residential properties and $11.27 million from non-residential.
The Town also collects the education tax, which is set by the province, which is $24.78 million. Though the province froze the education tax at the 2022 rate, the Town will still have an increase of three per cent or $815,000 due to assessed property values increasing.
The seniors requisition tax is determined by Bow Valley Regional Housing and is set to bring in $1.54 million for an increase of $55,634 from 2022.
The Town, however, will receive $710,729 in 2023 and $101,533 through the province’s low-income transit pass expansion grant program. The slightly more than $800,000 received is a one-time grant designed to help municipal affordable service programs for low-income transit.
“If we had known when we were doing the budget that we had that $800,000 we might’ve made different decisions that would affect the tax rate,” said Deputy Mayor Tanya Foubert.
Biswas recommended against potentially reopening the budget and reconsidering the tax rate, because it is only one-time funding.
Tax rates are approved by council and then are used to multiply by the assessed value of a property. The tax rate is created to show the amount of taxes paid per $1,000 assessed property value.
The tax split for Canmore is 65 per cent residential and 35 per cent commercial. However, residential properties make up about 85 per cent of assessed value.
The total taxable assessment in Canmore is $10.68 billion – a $2 billion increase since 2022 – with the bulk of it coming from residential properties.
A staff report showed $8.46 billion comes from the residential class, while $1.59 billion is non-residential and $428 million is from tourist homes.
The biggest factor, however, was market inflation which counted for $1.84 billion in the increase, with $127 million coming from growth.
Prior to budget talks, council amended the Town’s property tax policy to increase the tax rate for tourist homes to become equal to non-residential properties.
This year, residential and tourist homes used for personal use are set to come in at 2.05, while tourist homes and non-residential are at 6.72.
Tourist homes, however, have the option of declaring as personal use or for short- and long-term renting prior to January 31 each year. Last year had 607 tourist homes in Canmore, with 499 for commercial purposes. A staff report stated there were 603 tourist homes for 2023, with 506 being for commercial use.
A tourist home can be rented for short- and long-term use, while visitor accommodation has a maximum stay of 30 days and not meant for residential use.
During budget deliberations, council earmarked funding for the property tax task force to return in 2024 to analyze taxes in the municipality.
The last task force had a series of meetings in 2012 and 2013 that examined the philosophy used by the Town with taxes such as tax ratios, tax share by class and rates per assessed value and led to updating and revising the Town’s tax policy in 2013.
Since then, the community has seen a rise in commercial properties, second homeownership and tourist homes.
2023 Tax assessments (2022 figures in brackets)
- Residential: $8.46 billion ($6.93 billion) – 22.1 per cent change on 9,124 rolls
- Tourist home: $428 million ($290 million) – 47.5 per cent change on 603 rolls
- Tourist home – personal use: $70.9 million ($62.4 million) – 13.5 per cent change on 97 rolls
- Vacant, serviced: $67.8 million ($52.2 million) – 27.6 per cent change on 78 rolls
- Non-residential: $1.59 billion ($1.32 billion) – 20.2 per cent change on 2,334 rolls
- Machinery and equipment: $54.8 million ($51.5 million) – 6.4 per cent change on 23 rolls
- TOTAL: $10.68 billion ($8.71 billion) – 22.5 per cent change on 12,259 rolls
MEDIAN ASSESSED VALUES (2022 figures in brackets)
- Residential: $969,000 ($800,000) for a 21.1 per cent change
- Tourist home: $670,000 ($534,000) for a 25.5 per cent change
- Tourist home: $686,000 ($534,000) for a 28.5 per cent change
- Vacant, serviced: $874,000 ($691,000) for a 26.5 per cent change
RESIDENTIAL MEDIAN ASSESSMENT (2022 figures in brackets)
- Single detached homes: $1.21 million ($997,000) for a 21.5 per cent change
- Condominiums: $756,000 ($720,000) for a five per cent change
MUNICIPAL TAX RATES PER CLASS
- Residential: 2.05
- Tourist home: 6.72
- Tourist home – personal use: 2.05
- Vacant, serviced: 2.05
- Non-residential: 6.72
