BIGHORN – The Municipal District of Bighorn will not make any changes to its municipal tax rate for residential and non-residential properties in 2018.
As a result, residents who live in the MD of Bighorn will only see an increase in their property tax bill if their property’s assessed value has changed.
“For our general municipal tax rate I am asking that we keep it the same as last year’s tax rate,” said Shaina Tutt, the MD’s director of finance.
“If you’ve had a decrease in assessment you will actually see your taxes go down. If you’ve had an increase in assessment, your taxes will go up slightly for the dollar value that’s collected.”
While the municipal tax rate will remain unchanged, the tax rate for education, seniors housing and designated industrial properties will slightly increase in 2018 and be passed along to the province.
“Those three tax rates we have no control over,” said Tutt. “We are told by the province and the Bow Valley Housing Authority (BVHA) what we are to collect and then we apply it based on the rules of the Municipal Government Act.”
About 53 per cent of each residential tax dollar collected by the MD is passed along to the province to pay for education, while 42 per cent of each dollar is retained by the MD to help pay for municipal services. The remaining three per cent is given to BVHA to pay for senior’s housing.
According to financials presented to council on May 8, the MD of Bighorn will generate about $6 million through general municipal taxation in 2018, including $4.1 million from municipal property taxes. The MD of Bighorn will also collect an additional $16.7 million in revenue through transfers and other sources.
According to the MD’s budget, municipal operating expenses will top out at just over $5 million in 2018.
