Tax notices have been sent out to Drumheller residents and while Drumheller Town Council have increased the mill rate by 1.9 per cent for 2020 tax year, there are a number of factors that go into determining what your tax rate will be.
At the May 11 Drumheller town Council meeting Town Council set the mill rate at 8.31196. Factoring in the requisitions from the School Divisions and the Drumheller and District Senior’s Foundation the entire mill rate was set at 11. 56901.
This means for a property valued at $200,000 the taxes would be $2,313.80, compared to 2019 taxes of $2,267. For a property valued at $300,000, there would be taxes of $3470.70, an increase of about $70 compared to 2019.
CAO Darryl Drohomerski notes that while the Town of Drumheller collects the funds for schools and the senior foundation through the mill rate, those revenues do not flow to the town.
The requisition from the Alberta School Foundation dropped $9,172, while the requisition from Christ the Redeemer School Division increased $9,768. The requisition for the Drumheller and District Senior Foundation also dropped just over $6,000.
The 2019 education mill rate for residential properties was 2.60359 while the 2020 rate was 2.67483. The Drumheller and District Seniors Foundation mill rate in 2019 was 0.57680 and in 2020 it was 0.58222. The overall tax rate in 2019 was 11.33737 mills.
Another factor in determining your tax rate is the value of your assessment. In the simplest form, to determine your tax rate, multiply the mill rate by the value of your property. In 2020 in general assessment value on residential properties dropped by about 3 per cent. There could be a number of factors however in play in determining your property value. This could include improvements to your property, or higher sales values when compared to similar properties in similar areas.
While tax rates cannot be appealed, a resident can appeal their assessment. For a property owner to appeal, the first step is to compare your assessment to other similar properties. This can be done at town hall. If you are not satisfied, you can file a written appeal to the Assessment Review Board Clerk at the Town of Drumheller Office. This appeal must be done within 60 days of the Notice of Assessment date. There is a fee to appeal, which will be refunded if the board rules in your favour, or the appeal is withdrawn prior to it being heard by the board.
More information is available at https://www.dinosaurvalley.com/how-to-appeal-assessment or by calling 403-823-1314.
