Tax Bill
City Budget
City Council approved the 2009 Operating Budget and the 2009-2011 Capital Budget on December 10, 2008.
Your property taxes are used to help pay for the services and infrastructure in these budgets. Because the budget increased, the revenue needed from property taxes increased by an average of 5.3% for operations and 2% earmarked specifically for the neighbourhood renewal program.
Your Tax Bill Comes in May
The City sends your property value assessment notice in January to help you estimate your taxes, which are due in late June. Your final tax bill is mainly determined by the size of the City budget, but is is also affected by the Provincial Education Tax announced in March/April, any local improvement charges for your neighbourhood or street, and how your property value assessment changed in comparison to the average change.
Impact on Typical Household
The value of your home is used to determine your share of the total property taxes the City needs for services and infrastructure. The average increase in property taxes is 7.3%, which includes all property types (i.e. commercial, industrial, and residential).
For residential properties, the tax increase is less because households no longer pay for garbage services with taxes; this is paid entirely through user fees. Therefore, the average municipal tax increase for houses is 3.6%. For a house valued at $400,000 last year, that's an increase of about $51.
Rebates to Come on Tax Bill
Most households will also get a one-time rebate on their tax notice in May to help offset increases in garbage fees that start January 1, 2009. For the average house the rebate is about $53. The rebate is on a scale; more modest homes get more and houses with greater value get less of a rebate.
Therefore, municipal taxes will increase for the average house by about 3.6% and user fees for garbage services, drainage, and sewer fees will increase. For the typical house worth $400,000, the total increase in all civic utilities and taxes will be about $162.
For more information:
2nd Floor, Chancery Hall
3 Sir Winston Churchill Square
Edmonton, AB T5J 2C3
| Telephone | 780-496-6388 |
|---|---|
| Fax | 780-496-1986 |
