Qualifying seniors may soon see a jump in their property tax rebate to the tune of $250.
Cochrane Town council member Susan Flowers put a notice of motion on the floor at council’s June 13 meeting to bump up the seniors property tax support program from $500 to $750.
“Taxes have gone up this year, but we haven’t raised [the seniors property tax] since we first got in five years ago,” said Flowers to council. “I know that seniors have really appreciated [the increase].
“Those that are on fixed incomes, that are at home and wanting to stay in their home for as long as possible, it really helps them to be able to cover all their expenses when they aren’t getting any increases to their pensions.”
Flowers added the $250 bump would also take some of the pressure off seniors’ facilities in Cochrane that are experiencing capacity-related issues.
“There is a growing number of seniors in this community and for those long-term ones, I would love to see them with this assistance,” she said.
The program allows homeowners ages 60 and over, whose property is in their name and is their primary residence, to apply for the rebate if they qualify through their income.
To qualify, the individual homeowner must have a yearly income less than $29,285. If there are two owners on the title, considered to be spouses, their combined income must be under $47,545.
The four councillors who were present for the meeting voted in favour of directing administration to bring back a report on the utilization of the seniors property tax support program and the impacts of a $250 increase to the rebate for council’s consideration at the July 11 regular meeting.
Budget deliberations
Town administration presented council with the proposed 2023-25 budget process schedule to determine how they would like to proceed ahead of deliberations in the fall.
Some Cochrane councillors said they would like to see a return to in-person engagements during the public comment period currently set for Oct. 25 to Nov. 10, in addition to the draft budget survey that was open to the public in May.
“I would love to see an in-person session come in somehow,” said Coun. Marni Fedeyko, acting as deputy mayor at the meeting. “I feel like now that COVID is over, if we can be back out there in public for at least a day, whether or not we’re set up at Spray Lakes sports centre again or somewhere else … we should have that opportunity where people can come out and chat.”
Fedeyko said she feels a survey alone is not enough to gauge public feedback.
“I would love to actually hear from people and have that one-on-one dialogue again,” she said.
Budget survey results will be presented to council at the July 4 meeting and deliberations are currently set to begin Nov. 15.
