The City of Cold Lake has set its taxes and you might be paying a little more. Council gave the thumbs up to a plan which will see an almost five percent increase in municipal taxes, but with school requisitions down, an average of one and a half percent increase in total. Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland is pleased with the plan, and especially happy the school taxes have gone down.
“It’s about time the school part went down. City of Cold Lake residents have seen big increases over the last few years.”
City officials are saying that just under $20 million in taxes were collected in 2017. Assessment values in the city have also dropped by about $108 million compared to previous years. The new tax rates are set to reflect that. Mayor Copeland also says the ID-349 agreement that saw Cold Lake lose about $10 million in funding was no help either.
“With the province rejigging this whole agreement agreement now, it really puts the sustainability of the City of Cold Lake in jeopardy for the long term.”
Copeland says the taxes will help with infrastructure but some projects may have to be shelved until budgets can be balanced. One such project is the expansion at the Energy Centre that would have seen space for both gymnastics and dance.
Residents can expect their tax notices in the mail by this week. They’ll have until June 30th to pay.