MD of Willow Creek

Municipal Property Taxation

The property tax system is comprised of two distinct processes –

• Preparing the assessments
• Setting the mill rate

The assessor’s job is to prepare assessments, while Municipal Council’s responsibility lies with setting the mill rate.

How are Property Taxes Calculated?

As part of the municipal budget process, each year Council reviews and approves the amount of funds required to provide the desired municipal services – both operating and capital budgets must be approved through bylaw.  From this amount, all other sources of municipal revenues and transfers - other than taxation - are subtracted.  Examples of “transfers” include provincial/federal grants, investment income, user fee revenues, reserve transfers, etc.  The remaining amount is to be raised through property taxation.

Your property tax notice will also include requisitions from external authorities - such as Alberta School Foundation Fund (ASFF), senior foundations, Designated Industrial Property requisition, Provincial policing costs, etc.  As per Alberta’s Municipal Government Act, some authorities are allowed to requisition the municipality for funds, and in turn, the municipality collects and pays these external authorities.   These requisitions are commonly received prior to April 1^st of each year.  Council has no power to question these requests for funding.

Council may also opt to establish a “special tax” for certain areas – i.e. recreation support, infrastructure projects, etc.  This “special tax” must be passed through bylaw.

To calculate property taxes, the following formula is used:

Funds Required through Taxation            = Mill Rate           
              Total Assessment

The mill rate is then multiplied by the individual assessment values to arrive at the total property tax bill.

Assessment multiplied by Municipal Mill Rate

+

Assessment multiplied by Provincial Education Tax Rate      =     Total Property 

+                                                                                             Tax Bill

Assessment multiplied by Senior Foundation Tax Rate

Taxation and Mill Rates (General Municipal Rates Only)

Where Do My Property Taxes Go?

Important Things to Remember:

Property taxes are for the period January 1^st to December 31^st and are due October 31^st of each year.  If you have not received your property tax notice by early July, please contact the MD of Willow Creek - you are liable to pay your taxes even if a tax notice has not been received.

A 10% penalty is applied to all unpaid taxes on November 1^st of each year, with a further 2% penalty applied to all outstanding taxes on January 1^st.

Taxes that remain unpaid for two years after the mailing of the tax notice will have a tax notification registered on their title, and be put up for public auction the following year.

Links -

• Bylaw 1895 – Property Tax Penalty
• Bylaw 1896 – 2021 Property Tax
• Bylaw 1898 – 2021 Special Recreational Services Tax - Claresholm
• Bylaw 1897 – 2021 Special Tax – Granum