Airdrie home owners can expect small property tax increase
Reasonable property tax is one of the reasons why Calgarians purchase a home in Airdrie. In 2017, the City of Airdrie council has agreed to increase property taxes by just 0.63%.
That means if your property tax bill as a home owner in Airdrie is $2,300 a year, your tax will rise to $2,314.49.
The modest increase was not without some budget wrangling by Airdrie city council. One of the moves in Airdre’s $130 operating budget for next year was to chop a quarter of a million dollars out of the snow and ice reserve fund. That brought the tax increase down to .63% from the original 1.14%. It was approved unanimously.
The Airdrie Echo reported that Candice Kolson, an Airdrie councillor, brought the motion forward to council and she said was pleased that they were able to fulfill budget requests and still keep the expected tax increase very low.
Kelly Hegg, fellow council member, was also satisfied with the 2017 budget for the City and said that they were able to strike a good balance between demands for services, especially in a growing city such as Airdrie while keeping taxes low.
Part of council deliberations last month when grinding out the 2017 budget was whether the City should increase franchise fees for new businesses setting up shop. Ultimately the suggestion was turned down. Airdre has an excellent reputation as a city which encourages the development of new business and an increase in franchise fees, not matter how modest, may not be in keeping with that reputation.
Some councillors, such as Allan Hunter, was hoping to approve a tax increase of zero. Zero is the hero, he was quoted as saying. Hunter’s suggestion was to use the City’s tax stabilization fund to mitigate any increase, no matter how small. However, his colleague on council Fred Burley said that fund is more of a rainy day fund for the day that council is forced to jack up property taxes by 6% or more.
Considering the current inflation rate in Alberta is hovering at 1%, council did a stellar job of coming in under that figure.
Tax Assessments in Airdrie
Airdrie home and business owners can expect their annual tax assessment notice in the mail at the end of January 2017. The stated property value on the assessment will have been ascertained in July 2016. This assessment was completed by the tax department which annually assesses residential, commercial and industrial properties. Once a value is provided the City of Airdrie can calculate the appropriate property tax. Not all properties are assessed in person.
The value is determined by current economic conditions and the characteristics of the property.
Property owners have six months before property taxes are due in full, which is deemed to be ample time to review the assessment, bring any concerns forward to the City and if necessary, file an appeal.
Determining if your assessment is correct
When your assessment arrives in the mail in January, read it carefully and check that your name, address and your designated school board is right. Is your property correctly described? If you have changes you can contact an Assessor directly by calling 403-948-8855 in Airdrie. The City of Airdrie encourages residents with questions and/or complaints to discuss the situation with an Assessor prior to going forward with an official complaint which must be file and which is your right.
Be aware that if you do file a complaint with the Assessment Department, which must be done before March 6, 2017 you still have to pay your assessed taxes even if the matter is not resolved prior to the due date.