Education tax taking a bigger bite
July 10, 2013, 4:32 am
Kevin Weedmark
As a result of revaluation by the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency, education property tax is taking a bigger bite in local communities.
When landowners are sent a tax notice by a municipal government, part of the taxation is municipal, and part is education property tax.
The provincial government sets the mill rate for the education property tax.
This year the education mill rate was lowered, but because assessments have increased so much in the local area, the overall tax bite of education taxes has increased substantially in some communities, and more than doubled in some.
The Village of Welwyn council is so upset with the changes that it has written to Jim Reiter, Minister of Government Relations, to complain.
In 2012, Welwyn levied $10,482 in education property tax. This year, even with the lower mill rate, the village is levying $23,435 in education tax, about two and a quarter times the levy last year.
In Moosomin, the school tax levy has increased from $857,720.01 last year to $905,432.47 this year.
In Rocanville the levy has increased each year as well.
In 2011 the town levied $184,542 in education property tax, in 2012 it was $191,898, and this year it ben $252,111.
"Our assessments have gone up so much this year that it really impacted us," said Rocanville town administrator Monica Merkosky.
The provincial government has decided that any discounts municipalities offer for early payment of taxes will not apply to education property taxes, which will further increase the amount flowing to school divisions from local communities.
In Rocanville's case, the discount last year took $8,000 off the levy.
In its letter, the Village of Welwyn council asks for more information on the new education mill rate.
"The council of the Village of Welwyn would like further information on the 2013 proposed education mill rates, as the mill rates . . . would see an increase of 123 per cent on the overall tax base for the properties of the village of Welwyn alone," village administrator Monica Pethic wrote in a letter to Jim Reiter, Saskatchewan's minister of Government Relations.
"In 2012, the school tax portion of taxes levied for the village amounted to $10,482. Your proposed mill rates will increase this levy to $23,435," the letter continues. "Council is very concerned that this rate hike is going to cause considerable hardship to our small population of mainly retired residents on fixed incomes.
"As a local government body, we were advised to admust mill rates in this assessment year to ensure ta levy revenue was as close as possible to 2012, and any increases should be listed under additional levies so we were not seen to be using the assessment increases as an opportunity to increase taxes.
"Council would welcome a reply to our letter in time for their next regular meeting to be held on the 15th of July, in order that we may address the many concerns of our residents."
Education mill rates were set by individual school divisions until the provincial government made changes to the system in the 2009-2010 budget, at which point the provincial government started setting the education mill rate.
Properties across the province have higher assessments in 2013 than in 2012, but the education mill rates have been reduced.
The agriculture mill rate has been reduced from 3.91 to 2.67 mills, the residential mill rate has been reduced from 9.51 to 5.03 mills, and the commercial rate has been reduced from three tiers - based on assessment - starting at 12.25 mills to a flat rate of 8.28 mills, and a new category of resource properties has been added with a mill rate of 11.04.
