By Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A Resort Village of Candle Lake resident is wondering why he saw a large increase in his property taxes this year.

Borden Wasyluk, who previously served as mayor of Candle Lake, claims that he saw a a 38 per cent tax increase on his two properties which led his actual bill go up by around $900.

According to documents at the Village of Candle Lake website, the Mill Rate stayed the same in 2021 as it did in 2020 at three mills. The mill rate factor residential decreased from 1.12 in 2020 to 1 in 2021, the commercial factor increases from 1.44 to 2.12, the base tax residential increases from $325 to $650 and the base tax commercial increased from $425 to $845.

This will result in an increase in Tax Levy Revenue from $2,251,092.00 in 2020 to $2,714,124.00 in 2021. The early payment discount rate was set at five per cent, which was a decrease from 20 per cent the previous year.

Wasyluk’s complaint was about the increase in the base tax, but he also didn’t like how frontage was not taken into account in calculations.

“The thing about the base tax is it’s very very unfair,” he said.

“You get into the industrial area where the sizes of the property vary and there is probably people with 1,000 frontage feet and those with 50, 60 frontage feet and the base tax went up $850 on the lot, So the amount of frontage feet you have has not been taken into account and I just don’t understand how everybody can be treated the same that way.

“Nine hundred and some dollars, in my case, it’s for two separate properties, but that’s ludicrous. The fact is that the base tax is not properly placed. Why should a guy with the 50 foot lot frontage pay the same as somebody with 1,000? Let’s get it by frontage foot. Let’s be fair about this.”

This item is reprinted with permission from the Prince Albert, SK, Prince Albert Herald. For the complete article, click HERE

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