St. Albert taxpayers could benefit from a budgeted education property tax rate reduction.
The provincial budget, released by the Progressive Conservatives just a couple of weeks ahead of the election call, promises education property tax mill rates will be reduced by about 1.25 per cent.
Municipalities collect education property tax on behalf of the province. The municipalities have no control over the education property tax rate, however.
While property tax payers might benefit from this reduction, however, there won’t be any tax-cutting announcements coming from the City of St. Albert.
The City of Edmonton council announced this week it would be cutting its property tax increase as a result of the decrease to the city’s education tax requisition.
But the City of Edmonton blends its municipal and education property taxes. The City of St. Albert does not, which means the average 3.3 per cent municipal property tax increase for 2015 will stay put.
“The City of St. Albert keeps the education tax amount and the municipal property tax amount separated,” said city manager Patrick Draper.
“The cut or reduction that may be occurring in other communities is actually a function of a reduction of a levy on the education side,” Draper said. “We never co-mingle (the municipal property tax and education tax), we never average them, we just focus on the portion that is under the authority of our city council.”
Draper did note that residents might be in line for a break on education property taxes, but that’s strictly within the provincial government’s jurisdiction.
The 2015-16 provincial budget from the Tories forecasted that education property tax revenue would be $2.3 billion for the fiscal year, a seven per cent increase from 2014-15.
The provincial government took over collecting education property taxes in 1994. Opted-out school boards, which are the separate schools, can requisition taxes from the municipalities directly.
The provincial budget documentation shows the non-residential rate will fall five cents to $3.67 per $1,000 of equalized assessment, and the residential/farm rate will drop to three cents to $2.50 per $1,000 of equalized assessment.
Whether or not the budget stays as presented for 2015-16 remains to be seen as the provincial election is scheduled for May 5.
