By Kevin J. Sabo
For the Advance
The Village of Halkirk has set its tax rates for 2020.
For residential properties, the total hit will be about 14.18 per cent based on property assessment value.
The total percentage includes residential and farm tax of 11.0 mills, a seniors requisition of .5044 mills, and a school requisition equivalent to 2.67 per cent.
Non-residential taxes will sit around 16.6 per cent.
The non-residential tax rate will have a mill rate of 12 per cent, a seniors requisition of .5044 mills, and school requisition of 4.135 mills. The minimum tax rate in the village for 2020 remains at $500.
While community tax notices are sent out in June and due Sept. 1st, due to the non-residential tax referral, village council has made the decision to defer all taxes in the community.
The new due date for taxes in 2020 will be Sept. 30th, with penalties applied to all unpaid accounts on Oct. 1st.
Remaining on the theme of taxes, due to the current health situation in the province, and with a Government of Alberta mandate, the decision has been by village council to not begin any tax auction proceedings in the community until October or November.
There is currently one property in the community that is facing these actions, and under government guidelines the property must have its tax arrears paid or undergo a tax auction by March 31st, 2021.
Other highlights of the May 13th council meeting:
• council approved the three-year operating budget and five-year capital plan budgets. The capital plan for 2020 features $746,000 of spending, including $250,000 on sidewalks, and $182,000 on firehall upgrades which were started in 2019.
• village campsites are remaining closed for the foreseeable future due to the ongoing pandemic. The status of the campgrounds will be reviewed every council meeting.
• in addition to the campgrounds remaining closed, council has decided that all fires in the campsites are prohibited until further notice.
• The Village of Halkirk office will no longer be issuing waste transfer site cards. Instead the cards will be available at the transfer site office.
• The next meeting of the Village of Halkirk council is June 10th at 1 p.m.