(File photo/paNOW Staff)

By Dawson Thompson

Tax Deferral

Prince Albert council approves tax deferral after recent revaluations

Jun 15, 2021 | 5:00 PM

Prince Albert city council has unanimously approved the idea for a tax deferral following the recent property revaluations that saw some tax bills rise significantly for commercial and residential. It will give property owners a bit more time to pay the excess without penalty.

The motion said commercial properties who received a 30 per cent or more increase in property taxes from 2020 to 2021 will be required to pay the equivalent of their 2020 property taxes by the Property Tax Notice deadline of June 30, 2021.

With this tax deferral the properties would be able to pay the remaining amount of their 2021 property tax balance by the deadline of November 30, 2021, without incurring penalties on the 2021 levy to that date.

The proposal came from Prince Albert Mayor, Greg Dionne.

“They have to pay what their normal tax bill would be by the end of June. The increases that they got for 2021, they have until November 30 to pay,” Dionne told paNOW.

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“That’s for any business where tax went up 30 per cent and any residents where the increase was over $900. It’s for everyone in the city, whether commercial or residential. If you fall into one of those categories, you can defer the new amount to Nov. 30.”

In future, and with the real estate market being so vulnerable to a change in prices, Dionne want’s the revaluation to be every two years instead of four.

“I’m going to be worried about the next phase because during COVID, house prices increased,” Dionne said.

“When the next evaluation comes in, people are going to be caught with the high prices of COVID and that’s why I said to the province, instead of doing valuations every four years we should be doing it every two, because one year the market could drop and the next year it can take off,” he said. “One of the reasons the price of housing has taken off is because it’s tied to the price of lumber.”

However, Dionne understands why the province revaluates every four years.

“There is a big cost to revaluation. At the end of the day, to me [every two years] is a fairer way to do it.

“It’s in effect right now. People have to pay their current taxes by the end of June, and they can have until the end of November for the increase,” Dionne explained.

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Dawson.thompson@pattisonmedia.com

On twitter: dawsonthompson8