The province is upping Wood Buffalo’s property taxes for the second year in a row, which will cost homeowners on average 400-dollars this year.
During yesterday’s Question Period, MLA Mike Allen explained to the leg the drastic increase to the community.
“It meant a 40% tax hike averaging about $400-$700 per home in Wood Buffalo, and the same increase is about to be imposed again this year on my constituents, heard working families who already pay more for their housing than anyone else in Canada.”
Allen asked Municipal Affairs Minister Greg Weadick about making the change less drastic.
“As I’ve requested in the past, and as this is a significant increase, the mitigation was done over 12 years,” he continues, “is it possible to have full market value assessments phased in over 5 years respecting the hardship worn by people that already pay more for their housing?”
But Weadick wasn’t very supportive of Allen’s idea.
“This now puts every Alberta on a level playing field, every home of an equal value will be taxed, education tax at exactly the same rate, and this will go to support a wonderful education system Mister Speaker,” he adds, “this is the fairest way to collect it.”
The money will go to the province’s education tax and Weadick says it’s the fairest way to split the education cost throughout Alberta.
Up until last year, the province had a cap system, that controlled the rates paid by residents.
