Skip to content

MD of Bonnyville lowers small business mill rate, holds the line on residential

MD sign

BONNYVILLE – The MD of Bonnyville is giving small businesses in the municipality a helping hand with their taxes, while keeping the residential mill rate on-par with 2019.

Council passed the first two readings of its 2020 mill rate bylaw during their Wednesday, May 20 committee meeting. Included in it is a reduction in the small business subclass mill rate, which dropped from 13.05 mills in 2019 to 11.60 mills for the 2020 taxation year.

Reeve Greg Sawchuk said it was important for council to do what they can for small businesses in the MD.

“We already had a 10 per cent reduction for those small businesses and, recognizing the current economic climate, we chose to give them a further 10 per cent so now the mill rate is 80 per cent of the regular non-residential mill rate.”

He added, “We can’t seem to catch a break in this area between the pandemic and the general industry problems that are going on out there. We felt as though we needed to do something, recognizing that it’s a small amount, that we have to do something for business and this is the way we thought we could do it at this time.”

The residential, farmland, and other non-residential mill rates will be holding steady at 2.763, five, and 14.5 mills respectively. However, due to a drop in assessments across the municipality, many property owners can expect to see a slight dip in their municipal taxes.

“The residential (assessment) was down by 1.48 per cent, farmland was down by 0.16 per cent,” explained MD general manager of corporate services Tolulope Maraiyesa, adding the major difference was in the machinery and equipment assessment that dropped by 10.48 per cent.

The MD is expecting to bring in about $60.8-million in revenue from municipal taxes, a shortfall of roughly $1.48-million from what was budgeted which will be covered through cash flow reserves.

“Council has stuck with the sentiment that homeowners saw their taxes go up when their assessment rose and, in this case, we feel as though, especially with the economy the way it is, everybody could use a break," Sawchuk expressed.

For 2020, the MD is also required to collect approximately $12.68-million for the school requisition, around $275,000 less than last year. The seniors requisition for this year increased by about $7,000 over 2019, to $507,000.

Robynne Henry, Bonnyville Nouvelle

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks