File photo of Coaldale mayor Jack Van Rijn, January 24, 2023. Coaldale Town Council has approved the 2023 Property Tax Bylaw. (File photo: LNN)

By Justin Goulet

Property Tax Bylaw approved by Coaldale council

May 26, 2023 | 2:02 PM

COALDALE, AB – Coaldale Town Council has approved the 2023 Property Tax Bylaw.

At its May 24, 2023 meeting, council passed a second and third reading of the bylaw, which will result in a residential property tax increase of 1.53 per cent and a non-residential property tax increase of 2.67 per cent.

Mayor Jack Van Rijn stated, “As a council, we’re committed to keeping property taxes as low as possible so we can continue to attract new residents and expand our commercial and industrial sectors.”

He added that preferably, the council would not have to increase taxes at all and in a perfect world, taxes would be lowered.

“But as everyone knows, the price of goods and services has gone up everywhere and in a lot of cases, municipalities have had no choice but to either significantly increase property taxes or cut services to balance their budgets,” Van Rijn remarked.

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He continued, “Luckily, having some additional revenues to put towards the Town’s 2023 tax rates gave our council the ability to further reduce what from a regional perspective were already fairly low tax increases – and, I might add, without having to cut service levels that our residents have come to enjoy and expect.”

During the first reading of the bylaw, council was presented with two options.

The first not only included maintaining a 1.84 per cent residential property tax increase and a 3.22 per cent non-residential property tax increase, both of which were approved last fall, but also allocating an extra $33,938 in unanticipated revenues from property assessment growth towards a capital project, expense, or financial reserve of council’s choosing. The second option presented amounted to allocating the extra funds towards the residential and non-residential tax rates themselves.

Council members chose the second option, thereby approving the residential property tax increase of 1.53 per cent and non-residential property tax increase of 2.67 per cent.

Of the Town of Coaldale’s $21 million operating budget, about half is funded through property taxes that help to provide services within the community. These include:

• Snow removal
• Police and fire protection
• Green space upkeep
• Trail and pathway maintenance
• Road and sidewalk maintenance/repair
• Recreational programming
• Arts and cultural programming
• Library services
• Organizing and hosting seasonal community events

More on the Property Tax Bylaw is available at the Town of Coaldale website.

READ MORE: Lethbridge News Now.

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