(Alison Sandstrom/paNOW Staff)

By Alison Sandstrom

2021 Taxes

Council considers $100 increase to minimum tax

Apr 14, 2021 | 8:00 AM

Prince Albert is set to hike the amount of tax paid by properties with the lowest assessed value in the city.

On Monday night, council voted to raise the minimum tax from $572 per year to $672 per year as part of the 2021 property tax bylaw.

The bylaw, which includes the changes to the minimum tax and the addition of a police base tax, is up for final approval on Wednesday.

According to a city report, 848 properties would pay the minimum tax if it were raised to $672, generating an additional $30,812 of revenue compared to 2020.

A minimum tax of $672 means every property in the city would pay at least that much in taxes each year. That does not include base taxes and levies, which are charged separately. Currently the operations base tax is $60. The roadways base tax is $189.

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Council last increased the minimum tax in 2019, upping it from $476 annually.

Speaking after the meeting, Mayor Greg Dionne told paNOW given the cost of fire and policing in P.A. is around $1,800 per property, the proposed increase to the minimum tax was reasonable.

“We don’t think it’s a big amount to ask,” Dionne said. “It sounds like a big increase, but we even looked at higher than that. We looked at $872 because when [we] think of it, to live in the city and get all those services for $672, that’s a pretty good deal.”

His council colleague, Coun. Terra Lennox-Zepp opposed upping the minimum tax.

“I would suggest that instead of placing more burden on very low-valued properties, if we as a city find that… we need to find more revenue, we should be using the mill rate,” she told the meeting.

Meanwhile, Brian Howell with Riverbank Development Corporation told paNOW he also opposed increasing the minimum tax. Howell advocated against another part of the proposed property tax bylaw, the police base tax, at Monday night’s meeting.

Howell said while each measure taken on its own “isn’t the end of the world,” he’s worried about the cumulative effect of the increasing use of flat taxes by the city.

“If the process continues, you’re going have a tax system that’s unbalanced and unfair, and sees poor people paying a greater percentage of their income than they can afford,” Howell said.

“We’re not opposed to different ways of looking at taxation,” he continued. “We just want to make sure that the burden on the lowest income people does not become so great that homeownership becomes impossible, they’re not eating properly, that sort of thing. And that’s where I think this goes if it’s allowed to continue long enough.”

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom