Connie has worked hard her whole life, here in Edmonton. She is 65 soon and was looking forward to her retirement but is now worried that she will have to move because she cannot afford her city taxes. So I thought I would look into it.
By the way, I firmly believe that Civic taxes should be frozen when taxpayers reach 65. In order to do that we need our fiscal house in order... Anyway, back to the information.
I have compiled a chart of local tax rates, known as the "Mill Rates". These rates are the multiplier used to decide how much tax you pay. In this region Fort Sask pays the lowest, Thorsby the highest.
Municipality
|
Residential tax rate for 2012
| |
Fort Saskatchewan
|
0.004470
|
16
|
Sherwood Park
|
0.004520
|
15
|
Stony Plain
|
0.004790
|
14
|
Edmonton
|
0.005010
|
13
|
Gibbons
|
0.005090
|
12
|
Devon
|
0.005360
|
11
|
Spruce Grove
|
0.005640
|
10
|
Beaumont
|
0.005950
|
9
|
Morinville
|
0.006600
|
8
|
Leduc
|
0.006620
|
7
|
Redwater
|
0.007200
|
6
|
St. Albert
|
0.007630
|
5
|
Bon Accord
|
0.008540
|
4
|
Calmar
|
0.009030
|
3
|
Lamont
|
0.009310
|
2
|
Thorsby
|
0.011670
|
1
|
This is reformatted from Information taken from:
Did you notice that areas surrounding Edmonton, that have the largest industrial tax bases have the lowest civic tax rates?
It is time for Edmonton to get a proper share of those revenues. This would take the pressure off the city and allow us to maintain, if not lower taxes.
As a point of Interest Calgary's 2012 Mill Rate was 0.0034565 a full 32% lower.
Here is David Staples views on the issues. You can see the original here: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Staples+Time+industrial+Edmonton+region/8755371/story.html
EDMONTON - The rural ripoff of industrial taxes has got to end.
This tax grab is damaging to the vast majority of the Alberta’s villages, towns and cities. It also threatens the prosperity and competitiveness of the Edmonton region.
The issue has become so hot that two councillors running for mayor in Edmonton, Don Iveson and Karen Leibovici, are positioning themselves as champions for urban Alberta on working out a fairer deal.
In a recent blog post about the need to annex the land around the International airport, Leibovici focuses on Edmonton’s raw deal when it comes to paying for the region’s costs, while lacking a proper industrial tax base. “We all know that someone always pays, and in the case of our region, it is more often the taxpayers of Edmonton who foot the bill.”
Iveson is even more blunt. “It’s my top priority, if elected mayor, to get a fair share for urban areas and build a stronger city and a stronger region.”
How does the rural ripoff play out?
Towns and cities like Devon, Morinville, St. Albert, Fort Saskatchewan, Leduc, Stony Plain, Beaumont, Spruce Grove and Edmonton are full of men and women who work in the oilpatch. They build, maintain and operate pipelines and refineries, or work for oilpatch related businesses. Yet when it comes to sharing the wealth created in the Edmonton region from industrial taxes on oilfield equipment, machinery and pipelines, the towns and cities get a pittance compared to what the rural counties rake in.
Across the province, industrial taxes pulled in $1.5 billion in 2011 alone, but $1.4 billion of that went to a lucky handful of rural counties, representing just 13 per cent of Alberta’s population.
A new study by Don Good, a Peace River businessman and town councillor from 1998 to 2010 who has become an expert on the rural ripoff, shows that $137 million in industrial taxes was collected in 2011 in the Edmonton region. Four rural counties got to keep 70 per cent, while Edmonton and all the surrounding towns (save for Sherwood Park, which has a sweet deal because it’s part of a county) got 30 per cent.
Stated another way, county populations in the Edmonton region that represent 13.5 per cent of the total population got $96 million in industrial taxes in 2011, while towns and cities that represent 86.5 per cent of the population got $41 million.
“It’s really important data to inform our case to the province,” Iveson says of Good’s study.
But Iveson says that’s only half the issue here, the other half being that city and town taxpayers and developers pay for all arterial roads, while in rural counties the province pays for all secondary highways. “And all of us pay for them through our provincial taxes. So it’s not just that the counties are collecting more revenue, they also have lower costs because they’re piggybacking on provincial infrastructure.”
The Progressive Conservatives have had 40 years to deal with this inequity, but the problem has only got worse. Municipal Affairs minister Doug Griffiths is now telling the various players in the Edmonton region to work out a solution, but Good says only the province can solve the issue, as it makes the rules.
It’s crucial to note that there’s no shifty dealing or bad faith on the part of the counties here. This ripoff is the fault of the province, not the counties. They’re just playing by the province’s archaic and nonsensical rules.
But, for now, the counties have little incentive to deal fairly with the towns and cities, Good says. “Do you think the rural municipalities are going to wake up one morning and go, ‘Oh, yeah, you’re right! Yeah sure. That’s really unjust. We’ll give you 50 per cent of our industrial assessment. Tomorrow, man! Absolutely!
“I don’t know why, maybe I’m just a cynic, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. The province has not given people equitable bargaining power and therefore the rurals get what they want.”
Instead, the province has to step up and change boundaries, amalgamating cities and towns with rural counties, Good says.
This suggestion makes sense, but it’s worth noting that neither Iveson, Leibovici nor Coun. Kerry Diotte, the three councillors fighting to be mayor, are pushing for the province to impose such a solution, at least not right now. In my next column, I’ll detail their arguments about how best to proceed to create a region that works for Edmonton and the towns, and not just for the counties.
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