Property values in Okotoks are on an upward trend.
Council approved the first of the Town's property tax bylaws Monday, with the second to come at the May 24 meeting following a decision from Foothills County regarding rates on annexed lands.
Chief financial officer Ralph Ettenhauer indicated in his report that residential assessment has increased by six per cent from 2021, while non-residential assessment is up by 0.8 per cent. This would see the net change in overall assessment at 5.3 per cent.
In December, council approved a 2022 budget of $47.5 million, which includes municipal tax revenue of $31.2 million and $16.4 million in requisitions.
Municipal tax revenue is mostly generated from Town properties at $30.9 million, well above the revenue from annexed properties at $250,000.
Of those requisitions, a large majority ($16.2 million) is from Town properties while $166,000 is from annexed properties. Requisition amounts are determined in accordance with the assessment values of the Okotoks Public Library and Westwinds Communities.
Education requisitions are based on the Province's pre-determined dollar amounts, as are requisitions for designated industrial property.
In Okotoks, the non-residential tax rate is 1.5 times higher than the residential tax rate, a figure that was approved in principle by council during budget proceedings.
Ettenhauer said the average last year amongst communities of similar size was 1.74.
He added that this information is used to prepare property tax assessments, in accordance with municipal legislation.
A grant program was established last year to give financial assistance to residents who developed secondary suites or accessory units on their property, pending funding availability.
Coun. Cheryl Actemichuk inquired about the increases for those homeowners who took advantage of the program over the last year.
The CFO said that information was not readily on hand, however he indicated that information could be provided to council if that was their wish.
"This data would be very difficult to determine and I would sense is not readily available," chief administrative officer Elaine Vincent said in response to the councillor's question.
Further to her point, Vincent said that secondary suite construction is a right within one's property zoning and assessment as a whole is done very differently than market value.
However, she said one could imagine a 'worse case scenario' where the value of a property increases following the introduction of a secondary suite. Vincent suggested using the calculator on the Town's website to input one's current property assessment and number followed by an increased number (say, $50,000) to get an idea of what their updated value would be.
"That's going to give you a good enough guess to determine the overall impact," she said.
Other comments were from members of the finance and audit committee, who said that everything checked out as it had been previously reviewed.
The bylaw passed following three unanimous readings.
