The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Nothing is final yet, but town council is considering trimming Creighton's mill rate in an effort to offset rising home values in the community. The provincial government this year reassessed properties across Saskatchewan and determined Creighton homes have ascended in value. That being the case, many homeowners would automatically pay higher taxes if council maintains the same mill rate as last year. But by lowering the rate, council can attempt to keep taxes roughly level for most homeowners _ though it's not a perfect science. Figures from the provincial assessment agency show that all single-family homes in Creighton collectively rose 33 per cent in value over the last assessment in 2009. If, as a hypothetical, council were to cut the mill rate by a similar amount, homeowners whose values went up more than 33 per cent would still face a higher tax bill. In addition to a lower mill rate, council will look at a potential boost to the minimum tax applied to all homes in Creighton. The rate currently sits at $700 and has not gone up since 2009. It represents the total tax bill for the least valuable homes in town. Final decisions will be known once council completes its budget, a process normally done in May. See 'Rise' on pg. Continued from pg. While Creighton's single-family homes together rose in value by 33 per cent, it was nowhere near the collective provincial increase of 87 per cent. Of course Creighton is much smaller, and much further removed from the sources of the province's resource boom, than the cities where the most dramatic increases were reported. Commercial and industrial property collectively increased by 18 per cent in Creighton, again far below the provincial average of 55 per cent. Creighton's multi-unit residential buildings went up 53 per cent, substantially less than the province-wide figure of 87 per cent. A lowering of the mill rate would not be unprecedented, as the previous council did just that in 2009 when the last assessment also bolstered property values. Creighton's mill rate has not actually increased since 2007. The Saskatchewan government has announced that due to the increased assessments this year, it is lowering the education portion of property taxes across the province. Revenue from the education tax will remain neutral, but, as described earlier, there will still be cases where homeowners whose assessments shot up dramatically will pay more. This year will mark the first budget for the town council that took office in Creighton last October. The town's 2012-13 budget included total spending of $3.3 million, down by more than $400,000 from the previous year, when council accepted a one-time grant for a specific project. Major capital projects last year included a new shop for town workers, an upgraded sewage lift station, a columbarium and two roadside signs welcoming motorists to the community. Across the border, Flin Flon City Council has agreed in principle to a two-point mill rate increase this year. Council is also pursuing a protective services fee that would boost taxes on low-end homes.
