No Tax Increase for Elk Point

Mayor & Council balance budget with zero increase to mill rate for 10th year in a row.

Property owners in the Town of Elk Point will be happy to hear that Town Council & Mayor voted last night to maintain the mill rate, aka the tax rate. What this means for property owners is that there’s a great chance taxes will not increase, says Chief Administrative Officer, for the Town of Elk Point, Ken Gwozdz.

“It’s all based on your assessment, if your assessment did not go up, then you will not see an increase,” Gwozdz says, it’s important to note that town taxes are determined by multiplying the assessed value of your property by the mill rate. The assessed value is determined in June of the previous year. Overall, the Town of Elk Point saw a three percent decrease in linear assessment (nearby industry taxes outside the actual town borders); which equates to $2,200. A total assessment drop of $1.2 million, or 0.6 percent of the total assessment.

“What that equates to is $131,000 in tax revenue, almost one mill rate,” explains CAO Gwozdz. The Town is not worried about the drop in tax revenue because they have some new revenue coming in, Gwozdz explains. “Four years ago if you built a new house in Elk Point you were tax except for three years,” the incentive to get people to build in the community is now over, which means there are multiple properties that will now be subject to residential taxes. “The tax concession lots have come on stream,” Gwozdz says because of those properties Administration did not have to make any more cuts to the Operating Budget, nor did Mayor or Council have to increase taxes.

Mayor & Council are sympathetic the residents’ struggles, Gwozdz says there was one main reason to hold the line in regards to taxes, “the downturn in the economy. Lots of people have lost their jobs and are struggling to pay bills.” Town Administration has work diligently to cut Operating costs for three years in a row to balance the budget, reports Gwozdz. “The staff have done a very good job in cutting the Operating Budget and not spending money to balance the budget. They’re doing more with less.”

This is the tenth year in a row that Mayor & Council have maintain the mill rate with zero increases. On top of that, although the school requisition has been increased by the Province, the Town has elected to absorb those extra costs. “This is the third year in a row Mayor & Council have maintained the school requisition,” reports the CAO.