Property taxes in St. Albert could increase by 3.9 and 5.2 per cent over the next three years, council heard on April 11, largely to maintain service levels in the city.
City financial services manager Anne Victoor's report said the forecasts don't factor in any projects put forward requiring additional tax funding, meaning the proposed numbers could be higher depending on future council decisions.
During the April 11 committee of the whole meeting, council heard the city expects to propose a property tax increase of at least 4.8 per cent next year, largely because of the need to maintain city service levels. The proposed increase would have been 5.3 per cent if not for 0.5 per cent offset thanks to the Servus Place debt being retired, Victoor wrote in the report.
“There are a number of factors that continue to impact the city's forecasted tax rates,” Victoor told council. “This includes population (and) geographical growth, new services, provincial budget impacts ... inflationary impacts, and infrastructure investments that have been made.”
“While the city plans for anticipated changes based on the current environment, we cannot always predict all events that will impact us and the results of these unknown events can impact our budget and thus our tax rates.”
Victoor said the estimated 2024 increase would mean property owners with a house worth $450,000 would pay roughly $206 more than in 2022.
The proposed 2025 property tax increase stands at 3.9 per cent, council heard, again caused by the need to maintain service levels. However, this increase includes an offset of 1.1 per cent through reduced annual debenture payments from Servus Place being paid off, as well as debt from a land purchase for the future fire hall in the city's north end also expected to be paid off by the end of 2024.
Victoor estimates the proposed 2026 tax increase to be around 5.3 per cent, again mainly because of maintaining service levels. The increase is 0.3 per cent higher because of new debenture payments scheduled to begin that year to fund the construction of the new fire hall.
During the April 11 committee meeting, council discussion was limited to Coun. Shelley Biermanski asking for administration to present property tax dollar amount comparisons between St. Albert and other municipalities, and Coun. Sheena Hughes seeking clarification on how the 2024 estimate decreased by over three per cent compared to the last preliminary estimate provided to council during 2023 budget deliberations last December.
In response to Hughes' question, Victoor said the previous estimate of an over eight per cent tax increase in 2024 did not consider the retiring of the Servus Place debt, which accounted for roughly a full per cent decrease in the new estimate, or the dissolution of the Edmonton Metropolitan Transit Services Commission.
Administration was not able to account for the over three per cent decrease in estimates during the meeting, so Hughes said she would submit an information request seeking clarification.
“The public is not going to remember what we have gone through which is that 4.8 (per cent) yes, is higher than most people love to see but we were coming in at over an eight per cent expected increase just four months ago,” Hughes said.
“It would just be helpful just to have a clarification,” Hughes said, adding, “I don't have a problem with that idea that we've gone down in the (estimated) number, I think that's a good news story.”
Neither Hughes or Biermanski responded to the Gazette's interview request.
“Through the annual budget process, administration will analyze and review impacts to update the estimate to reflect changes to the economic climate, requirements to maintain services and service levels, continued implementation of council's strategic plan and impacts of approved capital projects,” Victoor wrote in the report.
The official 2024 proposed property tax increase will be announced in October as part of the 2024 proposed city budget.
