Lesm-what are land taxes ab vs sk?

[Ron]

lesm posted Dec 29, 2006 11:01
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was wondering what you were paying in land taxes for a good quarter of productive grain land? Here in north central Saskatchewan we pay about $1300 a year for our best land.

I dont really know as I dont have any bare quarters, I pay approx 1000/yr for 156 ac: 133 cult, 20 cult, and 3 ac farmsite. I know the farmsite is a BIG part of the total.

[coppertop]

Ron, I live in west central Alberta. My land is not grain producing land but is excellent for forage production and pasture, no class 2 soil on it.

I pay $1350 annually, mainly for the house and three acre site. Half of that amount is for school tax, which in Alberta, is based on assessment. Most of us view it a very unfair way to collect education tax, as you are taxed on your home and improvements etc. Our municipality has a relatively low mill rate.

[farmers_son]

I pay an average of 236.35 a quarter for taxes on #3 soil. Dark brown soil zone. That would include education tax. It takes a lot of land to have a farm here, our total tax bill in 2007 will be around $7000.

We really do not get much for services however our roads are OK. The province looks after the secondary highways which are good roads. I expect our taxes will be going up this year. Only a fraction of the county's revenues comes from farmland assessment. I believe most comes from taxing pipelines and so forth.

[wade]

I'm in SW Alberta. Land taxes run about $3 per acre in our county.

[coppertop]

services provided by municipalities are sometimes not well known to the citizens. Some of them include:

Ambulance, Fire suppression, libraries, recreation facilities both in the rural jurisdiction and cost sharing with the urban centres,planning and development services etc . Each rural municipality is a partner in a Seniors Housing Foundation which provides a subsidy for the operation of seniors lodges located in urban centres across the province. Some rural municipalities are partners in two or more such foundations depending on how many urban centers with seniors lodges there are within their boundaries.

[farmers_son]

Coppertop: If you were referring to my comment “We really do not get much for services…” when you pointed out that municipal services are not well known to the citizens I would reply that I know exactly what services I pay for with my taxes. That amount appears on every tax assessment.

However not every municipality is the same. Our county does provide ambulance and fire, recreation and library facilities, planning services in the major town which is the county seat. In fact I sit on some of those boards. However we live a long way from town and by the time the fire department would arrive the fire is already out, by the time the ambulance arrives we could have gotten to a hospital faster by driving yourself and people usually do. The ambulance and fire charge mileage to come out to the further reaches of the county which is in fact an additional tax. It is closer for us to use the recreational facilities in a couple of towns neither of which is in our county.

I was not being critical, it is a fact of life for us that we live too far from town to enjoy some of the things we are paying for with our taxes. Our roads are good, our taxes are fairly cheap. We can put out our own fires and we keep a good stretcher closeby in case we have to haul someone to the hospital. Once I get old enough to need quick medical attention I will have to move to town and then I will pay taxes to them. If you have a heart attack out here you are a dead man.

So when I said we really do not get much for services, for us, that is how it is. Not complaining. The Alberta advantage is reserved for those living closer to the cities.

[coppertop]

farmers_son, my comments were directed to anyone who is unsure of what their tax dollars are spent on, particularly since the original post is from a gentleman in Sask.

I don't know which municipalty you live in but many provide fire supression equipment etc. in remote hamlets, to service the rural areas surrounding them. In Woodlands County for instance there are fire departments in three hamlets and one rural community centre. All these have fire halls, fire suppression equipment and trained fire fighters. Fort Assiniboine would be considered by some to be remote, but they have an up to date fire department funded by the county. I agree that a major fire would destroy buildings before the fire department arrived, that is why our insurance on buildings is higher than in an urban centre. Ambulance service is usually only Basic Support coaches, with the exception of major urban centres where Advanced Life Support coaches are available. I chaired our Ambulance Authority for years and we struggled with providing ALS coaches in smaller centres due to the cost.

The cost breakdown of where our tax dollar goes is certainly an eyeopener to many. The pie graph that comes with our taxes usually does not show the individual costs of capital projects etc.

[ivbinconned]

I have relatives farming in a big way between Grand Prarie and Valley View...a few years ago they told me their average was $160 per quarter!! Good land too. That is a pitance compared to the $1000 to $1500 we pay for similar land behind the straw curtain.

[coppertop]

Assessment is based on several things, productivity, how much of the land is cleared and fenced etc., plus proximity to urban centres, paved highways etc.

Land values in the Peace Region aren't nearly as high as in other places in Alberta but their value has certainly increased this past year or so.

North of GP, there is a lot of large operations that were homesteaded in the early 60's.

[Horse]

In the county of barrhead we do have a fire dept and if you call it they charge by the hr for trucks and however many volinters show up.
Taxes home 1/4 1200 and about 350/1/4 for other and thats poor rockey soil and hills and trees but we do build golf corces and pave roads to them and pitch in mega bucks to rec mainly for town resedents as we all have to pay to get to town if we wanted to use any of the services.

[coppertop]

Recreation facilities usually include grants to community halls in most rural municipalities. Our county has approximately 12 community halls that receive operating grants annually, and they also may apply for a capital grant based on specific projects every two years. Baseball diamonds, rodeo grounds etc. all receive some sort of grant here. I think that likely there are quite a few rural youth that use recreation facilities in every town, but of course they still must pay registration fees for which ever sport they are involved in. As with anything else, there is no free lunch!!