COCHRANE— Balancing the economic reverberations of the COVID-19 pandemic with the growing needs of the community Cochrane Council approved a slight increase in municipal property taxes.
At their meeting on Monday (June 8) council approved an increase in municipal property taxes that will see the average tax on a single-family home rise by $23. The same home will see a reduction in Education and Rocky View Foundation taxes by $18. Overall taxes will rise slightly by 0.14 per cent or the equivalent of about $5 for the year.
During the meeting council also approved supplementary taxes and the community revitalization levy.
“I’m comfortable with where we’ve landed. It’s a tricky time for everyone, a five-dollar increase that’s essentially zero per cent,” said Councillor Tara McFadden said. “We’re both dealing with the COVID and preparing for the future and that’s the balance that been really tricky for everyone to hit.”
The total budget for the year is expenditures of $59.3 million— around $28.7 million of these funds are generated through property taxes and the remainder is composed of grants and drawing from reserves.
Of the $28.7 million 85 per cent is generated through residential municipal taxes and 15 per cent is by non-residential property municipal taxes — this has been a consistent tax split since 2018.
The Towns' general manager of corporate affairs Katherine Van Keimpema noted that council could consider increasing the share of taxes paid by non-residential properties in the future to offset the amount paid by residential taxes.
She added that a mission of the Town has been to encourage business to come to Cochrane but this year is not the year to make adjustments to the tax split.
The total taxable assessments within Cochrane for 2020 are $5.7 billion— $5 billion is in residential assessment and $650 million in the non-residential assessment.
McFadden added that taxpayers will not see the price of the up to $1.5 million in funding granted to Spray Lakes Family Sports Centre until the municipal taxes are approved next year.
“I can support this budget I think we’re in a great position and it’s only five dollars over the entire year to get us through COVID,” McFadden said, adding that the slight increase helps cement Cochrane's place as a desirable community to live in.
McFadden added that she will be going into next year’s budget with a different take on taxes based on the money that has been allocated to the Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre.
Town council voted earlier this year to extend the due date for municipal taxes to September 30. Taxes are typically due on June 30 but council wanted to give people time to pay given the changes to taxes and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mayor Jeff Genung said the budget was able to find a balance in reacting to and supporting residents during the COVID-19 pandemic while ensuring critical infrastructure projects can still take place.
“It’s been obviously extraordinary time and it has called for extraordinary measures,” Genung said praising the work of administration in designing the municipal property tax rates.
“This isn’t the budget that we talked about a year ago,” Genung said, noting the many changes that occurred to accommodate the different staffing, services and responses that have occurred due to the pandemic. “To come out with the same tax rate at the end of that is a good feat.”
The Cochrane Eagle reported in December that town council was calling for a 1.93 per cent property tax increase— or the equivalent of $43.44 each year.
To deliver on the property tax increase the budget included a proposed expenditure of $43.4 million in capital projects for 2020, including the Transit Hub and Cochrane Innovation Centre, Railway Street West infrastructure upgrades, Centre Avenue and Highway 1A improvements, new Protective Services building and Horse Creek Sports Park servicing.
“Were not stopping we’re moving forward with the important infrastructure projects,” he said.
Councillor Marni Fedeyko said she opposed the budget because she was not in favour of funding $1.5 million to the Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre at the last meeting and felt it would hypocritical to vote in favour of increasing taxes two-weeks later.
“I feel that taxes should be reduced,” Fedeyko said. “Whether its five dollars or not I don’t feel that it is up to us to be able to decide what is fair or what is not fair.”
Fedeyko, the lone councillor to vote against the property tax increase, cited concerns about how the up to $1.5 million given the Spray Lake Family Sports Centre will effect residents next year.
She noted that that the up to $1.5 million in funding being provided to the Spray Lakes Sawmills Family Sports Centre will not impact this budget, but from a residential standpoint council should have done whatever was possible to lower that number down.
“Residents expected us to probably step in and do what we could to reduce that,” Fedeyko said. "From a residential standpoint, we should have done everything that we could in our power to lower that to under one per cent."
