Alberta Court of Appeal upholds Lethbridge County Business Tax
LETHBRIDGE — A decision by Lethbridge County to amend a business tax bylaw to help maintain county roads and bridges has been upheld by the Alberta Court of Appeal
In April of 2016, County Council approved an option to phase in a tax that would collect about $3.5-million a year to help cover the costs of repairing roads and bridges that were damaged and worn down by heavy use, predominantly by the agriculture industry. Several roads and bridges had deteriorated to the point of closure due to age and heavy use by commercial vehicles.
County Reeve, Lorne Hickey, said the measure was necessary, due to a lack of consistent funding from the provincial government.
In 2016, only 75 per cent of the tax required would be collected, lowering the business tax on animal units to $3.00. The special tax applied to dryland and irrigated farmland assessment would see a tax rate of 4.4140. The revenue generated from the CAP levy was based on a rate of $0.25 per tonne.