Tax increase to offset $500,000 shortfall caused by $23 million drop in county’s linear assessment

The county is facing tough decisions with its 2016 budget due to a dramatic drop in tax revenue from linear assessment.

As it stands, an increase of 3.5 to 4 per cent in the mill rate would be needed to make up for an almost $500,000 shortfall in order to balance the budget.

The $22.9 million drop in the linear assessment base is due to the economic downturn in the oil and gas industry.

The fairly grim scenario was brought to council’s attention at the Nov. 4 Committee of the Whole Meeting by Director of Finance Ed Bujnowicz and Assistant CAO Margaret Jones, who presented the first draft of the 2016 municipal budget.

In the report, they stated: “The provincial government’s assessment branch has advised the county that the assessment base for pipelines and oil/gas wells has decreased significantly.”

Linear assessment is expected to drop 9.92 per cent in pipelines and 3.71 per cent in wells.
The loss of assessment translates into a revenue shortfall of … for more see the Nov. 10/15 Mercury