BONNYVILLE – The Town of Bonnyville is putting a new tool in place to deal with residential properties that have been abandoned, significantly neglected or allowed to deteriorate, but council stressed the change does not automatically mean higher taxes for those properties.

Town Council gave all three readings to Bylaw No. 1617-26, the Residential Assessment Subclass Bylaw, during its Aug. 25 meeting.

The bylaw adds Derelict Property as a new residential assessment subclass beginning with the 2027 taxation year, alongside the Town’s existing Single Family Residential and Multi-Family Residential subclasses.

Administration said the change is intended to give the Town another option for properties that have become significantly neglected or deteriorated and are creating ongoing concerns in the community.

Importantly, the bylaw itself does not create a new tax rate or increase anyone’s property taxes.

Instead, it creates the assessment category that would allow council to consider a separate tax rate for derelict properties through a future annual Property Tax Rate Bylaw.

What would be considered a derelict property?

Under the bylaw, a derelict property is one that has been abandoned, neglected, is in significant disrepair or has deteriorated to the point that it is no longer habitable or usable.

That could include properties with serious structural damage, sagging roofs or collapsed sections, broken or boarded windows, vandalism, a lack of utilities, unsafe conditions, pest infestations or properties that appear to have been unoccupied and uncared for over an extended period.

Properties posing health, safety or environmental risks could also meet the definition.

The intent, however, isn’t to immediately place a property into a higher tax category because it needs some work.

If the bylaw is implemented for 2027, the Town’s municipal assessor would first identify properties that meet the criteria and provide a list to administration.

Affected property owners would then be notified and given a defined period of time to address the problems.

Only properties that continue to meet the criteria following that remediation period could remain classified as derelict.

Years in the making

During council’s discussion, Deputy Mayor Neil Langridge said the idea is something council has been working toward for several years.

“This is something we’ve been talking about for four or five years,” Langridge said.

He described the new subclass as another tool available to the municipality when properties are allowed to deteriorate significantly.

Council’s discussion also clarified that creating the subclass and deciding how it will ultimately be taxed are two separate decisions.

The bylaw establishes the framework. Any decision to charge derelict properties a different municipal tax rate would have to come back before council as part of its annual tax rate process.

That means there is currently no special derelict property tax rate in Bonnyville.

Changes begin with 2027 assessments

Administration recommended beginning with the 2027 taxation year to provide enough time for properties to be identified, owners to be notified and remediation opportunities to be provided before there could be any taxation impacts.

Council ultimately supported all three readings of the bylaw.

With the new subclass in place, Bonnyville’s residential assessment class will be divided into three categories: Single Family Residential, Multi-Family Residential and Derelict Property.

The next significant decision will come when council considers whether the new derelict property subclass should receive a different tax rate for 2027.