In addition to the half/mill general increase to municipal taxes, 61 property owners are going to feel an extra bite as Canora’s residential tax ceiling is removed.
For many years, Canora’s highest assessed residential properties have enjoyed the savings from a tax ceiling, but that ceiling is being removed in two stages, said Michael Mykytyshyn, the town’s chief administrative officer. The cap was $1,925 in 2015 on the residential portion of the tax bill. This year, the cap is being raised 50 per cent to $2,800 and there will be no tax cap next year.
When discussing the matter, council noted that the tax cap cost the town $32,155 in lost revenue in 2015, which is equivalent to more than a one-half mill tax increase for all properties in town. Since 2000, the tax cap has cost the town more than $217,000. That lost revenue had to be made up by taxes from all other properties.
The individual cap concessions ranged between $33 and $2,047 per year for the 61 residential properties which benefited from the cap.
The administration surveyed 32 other towns and Canora was found to be the only one with a tax cap.
