Airdrie City Council has passed the 2024 Annual Tax Rate Bylaw, and according to city documents, a single-family homeowner will see an estimated increase in municipal taxes by $12.25 a month. A median residential condominium will experience an increase of about $6.49 a month in municipal tax.

This increase is based on the supposition that the median single-family homeowner with a 12 per cent change in assessed value would have had their home value rise from $496,800 to $556,000.

"If a property value has increased or decreased more or less than this, there will be a corresponding effect on taxes," a council agenda report stated.

According to Monica Labait of Corporate Services with the City, 60 per cent of a property owner's tax bill comes to the city of Airdrie, while 32 per cent is collected on behalf of the province to fund the education system, while another one per cent is collected on behalf of the Rocky View Foundation to help fund affordable housing options for seniors in Airdrie. Municipal tax accounts for 67 per cent of a resident's property bill, though Labait added that the amount of tax revenue generated each year stays constant.

aaaAirdrie City Council has passed the 2024 Annual Tax Rate Bylaw, and according to city documents, a single-family homeowner will see an estimated increase in municipal taxes by $12.25 a month. A median residential condominium will experience an increase of about $6.49 a month in municipal tax. (Graphic credit to City of Airdrie) 

"... Added to that is additional revenue generated from our growth and any tax rate increase approved annually as part of the budget process. There was a $5.2 million increase in the 2024 Council-approved budget which will generate a total of $83 million in municipal taxes this year," she added. "Overall property values have increased which means the tax rate has decreased as we can spread out the tax burden over more properties."

As per the education tax, the council agenda report states that each year the province calculates the amount each municipality must contribute towards the public education system based on a city’s total assessment value.

"Municipalities then collect the education property tax and send it to the Province for the Alberta School Foundation Fund (ASFF). It is then distributed to the public and separate school boards on an equal per-student basis."

This year, there has been an increase in the residential requisition amount by 18 per cent and the non-residential amount by 7 per cent for properties in the City of Airdrie, which translates to the average household seeing an increase of $11.24 per month. Labait underlined that although the overall combined increase is 18 per cent alone in the education tax, year-over-year growth has helped spread this burden.

Other increases include the Rocky View Foundation's tax rate, which translates to an additional $1.60 per month for the average household. As per the Community Revitalization Levy (CRL), the council agenda report stated, 'the increases to assessed property values in the defined CRL area will have the municipal revenue and the provincial education portion of the property tax collected on the increased value, set aside for public improvement projects in the CRL area.'

"These rates, while the same as the regular tax rates are split out in the Bylaw to demonstrate the actual funds raised for this purpose each year. In 2023 the total funds raised by the CRL were $270,205, in 2024 they will be $483,827."

In her presentation, Labait also broke down what an Airdrie homeowner pays in municipal taxes in comparison to other municipalities, and in 2023, an Airdrie homeowner, whose home was assessed at $470,000 would pay an estimated $2,106 in municipal taxes, which compares to Calgary homeowners.

A homeowner in Red Deer with the same assessed home value would have paid closer to $3,000. Homeowners in St. Albert and Lethbridge would have paid 84 per cent compared to an Airdrie resident, while a homeowner in Grand Prairie would be paying double that of an Airdrie resident. 

In a question and answer portion of the documents, which addresses frequently asked questions by residents, a common question posed is why residents' monthly property tax payments change in June.  

According to The City, the tax rate is not set until May, and as a result, a resident’s monthly payments from January to May are estimated only.

“Once the tax rate is set, your monthly payments are recalculated to reflect the current property taxes less what you have paid from January to May.”

Tax notices are expected to be mailed out to all property owners on May 27. 

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