What is the base tax?

A base tax is a flat fee added to the municipal portion of each tax bill. The base tax reflects the philosophy that all properties benefit equally from some services (fire, police, roads, etc.) regardless of the assessed value of the property, and so all properties should contribute equally to these services. The effect of a base tax is to reduce the difference between the taxes paid by the highest and lowest assessed properties.

Under the Taxation Policy adopted by Council, the goal is for the revenue raised through the base tax to be set at 40% of the total municipal levy.

Since 2015 the City has implemented a base tax on each legal parcel (how many parcels make up a property will be determined by ISC (Information Services Corporation) and whether those parcels are determined to be legal size as per the zoning bylaw). Owners have the ability to amalgamate adjacent lots through ISC to reduce the number of base tax they pay on their property. For more information on this process, Click Here or contact ISC.