Residents of Drayton Valley and Brazeau County will have a little extra time to pay their property taxes this year.
At last week’s county council meeting, council passed motions to move the tax due date back by a month. In a special meeting the same day, town council followed suit. Taxes in both municipalities are now due on or before July 31 of this year. Previously the deadline had been June 30. A statement from the County says the change was made due to the recent wildfire that affected members of the community. Late penalties will not be charged before August 1.
County council also rescheduled three public hearings that had been set to take place in May but were postponed due to the evacuation. The public hearings for bylaw 1137-23, bylaw 1138-23 and bylaw 1139-23 are now set to be held at the June 20 council meeting. Two of the bylaws relate to amendments of the Land Use Bylaw, while the third involves an amendment to the Cynthia Area Structure Plan.
Tax break for fire damage
The Town is to offer tax forgiveness to the owners of homes lost in the Buck Creek wildfire.
Council made the move on Wednesday morning. Acting CAO Elvera Thomson said there were two homes located within town boundaries that had been destroyed by the blaze. Since tax assessments are based on the condition of the property as of last December, the owners would not normally see a reduction to reflect the fire damage until 2024.
Council will forgive the municipal portion of taxes totaling $1,038 for the two properties.
“I think it’s a little bit of something we can do to assist the families,” said Mayor Nancy Dodds.
Tax notices for Drayton Valley residents were mailed out this week. The average homeowner can expect to see an increase of about 5.5 percent over last year’s total. However, that amount will vary depending on changes to the assessed value of the property.
