(file photo/paNOW)

By Susan McNeil

Tax abatement

Massive tax increases lead council to issue one-time refunds

Apr 27, 2022 | 3:00 PM

Anyone who had their 2021 residential property tax jump by more than $700 will be getting some money back.

Prince Albert council voted on Monday to refund 173 refunds to homeowners, with the biggest amount a whopping $6,000.

“This helps ease, not totally, but a little bit the burden that was placed on 40 per cent of our residents with reassessment,” said Coun. Dennis Ogrodnick.

Council passed the 2021 budget with no increase but did raise the mil rate by 1.1 per cent.

To rebate any increase higher than $700 will cost the city almost $112,000, with the money be taken out of the Fiscal Stabilization Reserve.

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“We’ve made some changes, I believe, that will prevent this from happening again,” said Coun. Ted Zurakowski. “When we put our hands up for a zero per cent increase, this was not what we expected.”

When taxes are calculated, there are several factors that play into the final bill that comes to the homeowner.

The municipality decides on a mil rate that can vary depending on classification such as whether the property is commercial, residential or agricultural, among others.

At the same time, the province also passes a rate for the education portion of a property tax bill.

Both rates are applied to the property based on its assessed value. In Saskatchewan, virtually all assessments are done by an organization called SAMA and are done every four years.

Last year was a year for re-assessments and many properties saw some large swings in their value.

The result was that municipalities, such as Prince Albert, had some properties that saw huge jumps in assessment and got resultingly massive tax increases.

The effect was exaggerated in Prince Albert to the point that 40 per cent of properties saw a large increase while 60 per cent, including middle value homes, saw decreases.

Assessments can be appealed for a short period of time after the notices are mailed out.

This is something Zurakowski said homeowners should be on the lookout for.

“Be prepared to make your appeals if you feel you need to. Appeal your assessment. I’ll say it one more time, appeal your assessment. Know that date next year,” he said.

Councillor Tony Head also spoke in favour of the abatement, saying that the huge increases were not council’s plan.

“Anything we can give back to our residents, we should, so I will be supporting that,” he said.

Coun. Tara Lennox-Zepp opposed the plan, saying that the money will need to be replaced in the future and that money will come from one area, taxes.

“This $111,000 means a need for future tax increases, which affect all property owners with different value properties,” she said.

The motion was carried with Councillor Charlene Miller joining Lennox-Zepp in opposition.

While the largest refund was just under $6,000, the smallest was $0.45.

Properties that had increases following substantial renovations or a change in classification will not be eligible for the abatement.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow