The Bonnyville area will see its Property tax rates going up by 4.8 percent in the near future.
All three readings have been passed for the Tax Rate Bylaw in a council meeting resulting in the tax increase.
The M.D. received a letter in January from Minister of Municipal Affairs Ric McIver, that states the M.D needed to go to a 5 to 1 ratio for the highest non-residential property tax rate and the lowest residential tax rate.
During the readings of the bylaw, CAO Al Hoggan said the M.D. was not forced to do anything.
“We did receive a letter from the minister encouraging us to, and it’s my position that likely in the very near future, we’d have been forced to.”
“It’s much easier to make that transition when it’s voluntary, and we can work with the numbers instead of being forced into it by provincial legislation.”
Three tax rate scenarios were presented to council and the Committee approved the recommendation of the municipal tax rate, which establishes a 5:1 nonresidential to residential tax ratio using the 2021 nonresidential rate.
The options were reviewed by the council at the April 20th meeting.
Ward 2 Councillor Darcy Skarsen says “We knew it was coming, this is not as bad as maybe it sounds.”
All three readings were passed in a single meeting in an effort to finish the final part of the 2023 budget.