Banff’s politicians have approved the 2016 financial plan for the Town of Banff.
The plan, approved by council Monday (Sept. 14), sets out the municipal budget process, capital and operating budgets and the municipality’s financial principles and policies.
According to the plan, the Town’s property tax strategy for 2016 is to limit any increase in property taxes to an amount at or below the current rate of inflation in Alberta, for the period ending June 30 this year.
“It’s always been a guiding document to explain to the public how council proceeds with budgets every year,” said Mayor Karen Sorensen.
“As we go through budget, the financial plan is always at the back of our minds and it’s how we intend to budget, but the truth of the matter is we can and do divert from the financial plan under special circumstances.”
The main change in this year’s financial plan is to the targeted commercial-residential tax split – the number that establishes how much of the municipality’s taxes come from commercial taxpayers and how much from residential taxpayers.
The 2015 financial plan identified a targeted tax split of between 5:1 and 4:1, but council has approved a new target split of between 3:1 to 6:1.
“By expanding the range, it gives us more flexibility to look at what the tax should be for a specific year based on property assessments,” said Sorensen.
“Assessments have changed a lot since 2007 and 2008, and we can and have gone outside what the financial plan suggests.”
