Taxes and assessments

How Your Taxes Are Calculated

🔹 Expenses: Each year, Council sets a budget based on the cost of services like police, fire, recreation, parks, and roads. Inflation, service demand, and other levels of government all play a role. Town Council works to balance prudent and predictable taxes with quality services.

🔹 Revenue: In Alberta, towns collect taxes based on property assessments, which determine each owner’s fair share of municipal costs. In Strathmore, a third-party assessor (not the Town) determines property values. Our team then calculates a tax rate (mill rate) that raises exactly the amount needed to fund the budget.

Let’s break it down:

Imagine a town with...

• A $30 million budget
• 10,000 homes valued between $200K and $2M
• An average home value of $500K
• A total property value of $5 billion

To fund the budget, the town sets a tax rate of $6 per $1,000 of assessed value. That means a $500K home pays $3,000 in taxes.

Now, let’s say property values rise 20% to a total of $6 billion.

• The budget stays the same, so the tax rate is lowered to $5 per $1,000.
• If your home’s value also rose 20%, your tax bill stays at $3,000.

👉 If your home’s assessment increased less than average, you might see a tax decrease.

👉 If your home’s assessment increased more than average, your taxes will likely go up.

What About Tax Increases?

• If the Town raises taxes by 3%, the average homeowner will see a 3% increase.
• However, because assessments don’t rise evenly, some property owners will see higher or lower changes.
• In the example provided in the above menu, a 3% tax increase means the Town's total tax revenue rises from $30,000,000 to $30,900,000, which is then distributed among property owners based on their assessments.

✅ Higher assessments don’t mean more revenue for the Town.
✅ Assessments determine how taxes are split, not how much is collected.
✅ If your assessment rises above average, your taxes go up.
✅ If your assessment rises below average, you could see savings.

Got questions on your assessment? Wildrose Assessment Services can help! Call 403-343-3357 for expert, no-fee assessment support. They’ll review your property details and make any necessary corrections.

The Bigger Picture

Tax calculations get even more complex because:

• Commercial properties pay different tax rates.
  Some properties, like charities, are exempt.
• New development can spread out tax costs but also increases expenses.
• A portion of your tax bill goes to other levels of government, not just the Town. For example, municipalities collect Education Taxes for the Province. 

Property Assessment Appeals

Once property assessments are mailed to property owners each new year, the clock starts for the the property assessment appeals process.  The deadline is usually set for the end of March and is a strict deadline, 

If you would like to appeal your assessment, a complaint may be registered with the Clerk of the Assessment Review Board, ARBclerk@Strathmore.ca.

Role of the Assessment Review Board

The Assessment Review Board is comprised of Town residents who have expressed an interest and applied for a Board position.

The Board makes decisions under the Municipal Government Act and the Matters Relating to Assessment Complaints Regulation in respect of assessment and taxation complaints.

Procedure for Submitting Assessment Appeals

You can find your assessment information and compare with others, here.

First Steps:

Speak to Town’s assessors at Wildrose Assessment Services. You can call them at 403-343-3357. The assessor can usually resolve your complaint.

If you still wish to proceed with an appeal, please ensure that the following requirements are met.

Requirements for Assessment Appeals:

• Complaint must be on the Provincially approved complaint form.
• Complaint form must be completed fully and accurately.
• Complaint must be accompanied by the appropriate fee:
• $50.00 for Residential (3 or fewer dwellings) and Farmland
• $650.00 for Residential (4 or more dwellings)
• $650.00 for Non-Residential
• Linear Property appeals must be filed with the Municipal Government Board as of the date outline on the linear property assessment notice.

Submitting an Assessment Appeal to the Town of Strathmore: 

Bring or mail the completed complaint form and the required assessment fee to the Town Office.

• Town staff will make a photocopy of the cheque, receipt, written complaint, and any other printed evidence that is being submitted.
• BOTH copies of everything will be stamped, dated and signed on all pages by a town employee. The photocopy of all stamped and signed documents will be returned to you, along with the business card of the Clerk of the Assessment Review Board (ARB).
• The original documents will be kept by the Clerk of the Assessment Review Board of the Town of Strathmore. The Clerk of the ARB will contact you regarding further requirements.