City tax exemptions total about $33M per year
By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on August 26, 2023.
https://www.medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews Property tax exemptions in the city are cumulatively worth $33 million per year to the city treasury, but only about five per cent of that is related to non-profit groups, charities or churches, a new report states. Thursday’s meeting of council’s corporate services committee heard that the municipal bill for about 100 qualifying accounts is $1.88 million. Those properties are designated under the Charitable Organization Property Tax Exemption Regulation, or “COPTER.” Committee member Coun. Shila Sharps had asked for an overview of charitable and non-profit sector tax exemptions at council this spring and the issue was directed back for discussion at committee. Committee chair, Coun. Robert Dumanowski, said Thursday that revealing the names and amounts was “healthy in the interests of transparency,” but there is a good reason for the exemptions and rules are evenly applied throughout the province. “I can’t imagine Medicine Hat without these groups,” he said. A detailed list of charities includes a number of churches, daycares and other societies, and tax amounts range from $494,000 for the Medicine Hat Stampede Grounds to $162 for two parcels of farm land worked by the Canadian Food Grains Bank. Two golf clubs that operate and lease city-owned land would pay a combined $392,000 in taxes if not exempted. Only one other entity, the YMCA, showed a value over $100,000 on a single account, and 70 of the 98 accounts show tax amounts less than $10,000. The total amount pales in comparison to amount on properties the city is required to exempt under provincial government rules, such as its own roads, the airport, provincial buildings and, since 2022, greenhouses and other farm buildings. It states such properties would have paid $23 million to the city in 2023 had the exemption not been required, and $29.6 million once other levies like the education amount and local Cypress View levy are included. Lost revenue from machinery and equipment assessment, which Medicine Hat has exempted on defined processing and manufacturing equipment since 1999, totals $8.8 million. City finance director Lola Barta said the exemption exists as a enticement to industrial investment. In all cases, the difference to municipal, Cypress View and Alberta education requests is also applied to the general tax base. The cumulative effect on the rest of assessment base is $2.3 million for COPTER properties and $40.7 million overall. 17-16
