The Town of Drumheller has announced plans to address tax inequalities in preparation for the 2025 Annual Budget. With 4,328 taxable properties generating $10.6 million in municipal taxes, Administration, under the direction of Council, has identified disparities in tax burdens among residents and property owners.
During the September 9 Regular Council Meeting, a Request for Direction to establish a minimum property tax for the 2025 budget cycle was presented. After a lengthy discussion, Council advised the administration to proceed with a minimum property tax of $500 for the budgetary consideration.
The proposed minimum tax creates a fairer and more equitable tax base for all town residents and taxpayers. An impact analysis shows that the minimum tax will mainly impact properties classified as agricultural land and vacant land across all property classes. Below is a geographical map showing discrepancies throughout the Drumheller Valley.
Comparatively, nearby jurisdictions such as the Village of Beiseker, Town of Crossfield, Town of Three Hills and Town of Calmar have already imposed minimum taxes to address similar tax inequalities. It is a common implementation across the province.
The Town acknowledges the potential hardship the minimum tax may pose for affected property owners and aims to ensure that tax burdens are more equitably shared. The proposed minimum tax would mainly contribute to funding RCMP policing services, adding only 1% to the tax revenue. With the 2025 policing cost over $2.1 million, each property must contribute $485.21 for police services alone.
Based on an average residential property assessed at $234,000, the average homeowner already pays $2,123.26 in municipal property tax, so the minimum of $500 would not affect the average homeowner. Still, it aims to address the disparity in the tax burden. In other words, if you have already paid more than $500 for municipal taxes per property, this minimum tax will not impact your tax payments. If your municipal tax portion is less than $500, you will see the minimum tax of $500 appear on the municipal tax notice.
Additionally, residents are reminded that the impact on their property taxes depends on their property assessment value. Residents will receive the 2024 Property Assessment in late January/February 2025, and they may request reconsideration and/or appeal of the assessment value within the prescribed timeline. Once the assessment value is finalized, the tax rate, which will be determined by adopting the Tax Rate Bylaw in May 2025, will apply to the assessment value to generate the amount of property tax.
