Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post

Bunk · 11-14-2013, 11:36 AM

So with regard to the property tax calculation every year - I'll take a shot at trying to explain it.

Say we have a population of 1 million in 2012 (and all the businesses that come along with it). Say we have a property tax base of $1 billion - toward a $2 billion budget. Between 2012 and 2013, the population increases by 2%. Say also that the market value of the total assessment base has also increased by some amount

So when we're going to set the 2013 property tax rate. We now have 1,020,000 people and a higher assessment base. However, when we go to calculate the budget, we begin from a position of being revenue neutral. So given this larger base we adjust the mill rate down such that it would produce $1 billion. In a case the base goes down, we'll adjust the mill rate up to again be revenue neutral.

We then figure out how much we're likely going to need to spend. In 2012 we have a $2 billion budget - for 2013 we estimate it is going to need to go up. MPI (inflation) is about 3% and we estimate population will again go up by about 2%. So we figure overall spending will need to go up by 5% to keep the same level of service per capita. Our overall revenue will need to go up by 5%.

Say the 50% of our budget that's not property taxes goes up by about 5% (user fees, investments, etc). So we'll need to derive 5% more in property taxes to meet this budget need (sometimes the non-property tax side stays more level, so the property tax has to compensate and go higher). So the mill rate is then manually adjusted to derive 5% more revenue from the current property tax base. You have a "5% property tax increase". But you also have a large number of people paying into that increase.

In 2006 for instance, the mill rate actually dropped quite dramatically because property values skyrocketed.

Property taxes rates (per $100,000 of assessed value)

Your individual taxes will depend entirely on your assessment relative to others. If your assessment went down (while the average increased), your taxes will likely stay flat or even drop. If your property increased by a large amount, your taxes will go up more than the average.

11-14-2013, 11:36 AM	#68
Bunk Franchise Player Join Date: Jul 2006 Exp:	So with regard to the property tax calculation every year - I'll take a shot at trying to explain it. Say we have a population of 1 million in 2012 (and all the businesses that come along with it). Say we have a property tax base of $1 billion - toward a $2 billion budget. Between 2012 and 2013, the population increases by 2%. Say also that the market value of the total assessment base has also increased by some amount So when we're going to set the 2013 property tax rate. We now have 1,020,000 people and a higher assessment base. However, when we go to calculate the budget, we begin from a position of being revenue neutral. So given this larger base we adjust the mill rate down such that it would produce $1 billion. In a case the base goes down, we'll adjust the mill rate up to again be revenue neutral. We then figure out how much we're likely going to need to spend. In 2012 we have a $2 billion budget - for 2013 we estimate it is going to need to go up. MPI (inflation) is about 3% and we estimate population will again go up by about 2%. So we figure overall spending will need to go up by 5% to keep the same level of service per capita. Our overall revenue will need to go up by 5%. Say the 50% of our budget that's not property taxes goes up by about 5% (user fees, investments, etc). So we'll need to derive 5% more in property taxes to meet this budget need (sometimes the non-property tax side stays more level, so the property tax has to compensate and go higher). So the mill rate is then manually adjusted to derive 5% more revenue from the current property tax base. You have a "5% property tax increase". But you also have a large number of people paying into that increase. In 2006 for instance, the mill rate actually dropped quite dramatically because property values skyrocketed. Property taxes rates (per $100,000 of assessed value) Your individual taxes will depend entirely on your assessment relative to others. If your assessment went down (while the average increased), your taxes will likely stay flat or even drop. If your property increased by a large amount, your taxes will go up more than the average. __________________ Trust the snake.