Council approves 2024 Municipal Property Tax Bylaw
Morinville, Alta. – On Tuesday, April 23, 2024, Morinville Town Council approved second and third reading of Bylaw 8/2024, Morinville’s Property Tax Bylaw.
Approval of 3rd Reading included an amendment to the total amount raised by general municipal taxation to $13,023,717.
Council originally approved the 2024 Budget with an estimated 5.25% tax increase. In March 2024, the final aggregate assessment figures were confirmed to be higher than original estimates, allowing Council to reduce the tax rate down to 4.45%. During recent deliberations of the Property Tax Bylaw, Council allocated surpluses from the 2023 financial year to operational costs in 2024 allowing the tax rate to be further reduced to 3.38%.
This means a home valued at $350,000 would have originally incurred an estimated increase of $12.53 per month. Based on the approved tax rate bylaw, this increase is now $8.13.
For a commercial property valued at $650,000 in Morinville the estimated increase will be $100.50 per month.
Individual ratepayers may see the municipal portion vary from the average projected increase due to market adjustments and/or improvements made to their properties. These increases do not include changes to the Homeland Housing requisition and the educational taxes payable directly to the Alberta Government as part of the tax notice.
The budget surplus for the 2023 fiscal year was $2.46 million. The main drivers of this surplus were a significant reduction in snow removal contracted services, effective discipline leading to unused contingencies across the organization, much higher-than-expected returns on investment, and improved revenues from the Morinville Community Cultural Centre and Morinville Leisure Centre.
Following Council’s Budget Guidelines, Council allocated the surplus in the following manner:
- To the General Operating Reserve: $454,027
- This reduces the general operating reserve deficit from -$1,243,597 to -$789,589
- To the Snow Removal Reserve: $103,868
- This increased the snow removal reserve from $32,794 to $136,662
- As per the approved Long-term Operational Plan: $1,000,000
- This directly reduces capital tax requirements in future years
- As per a motion of Council: $129,107 towards the 2024 tax levy
- This reduced the municipal tax levy for 2024
Mayor Simon Boersma commented, “Solid financial stewardship is a tenant of this Council’s strategic plan and in conjunction with administration we will continue to focus on long term viability. Our Council’s direction to allocate the budget surplus ensures that we can continue to support crucial public services and community projects, which are fundamental to the quality of life in Morinville. We’re focused on maintaining a balance that enhances our municipality’s financial health while responsibly investing for the future.”
“Council’s allocation of unbudgeted surpluses strikes a balance between investing in the future of Morinville through the support of capital reserves and investment in the Long-term Operational Plan with providing relief to taxpayers and improving the immediate financial position of the municipality through allocations to the 2024 Operating Budget and the General Operating Reserve” explains Travis Nosko, Finance Manager.
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Town of Morinville
10125 100 Ave.
Morinville, AB T8R 1L6
Phone: 780-939-4361
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