Black Diamond residents are getting a small break on their taxes this year.
During its May 20 meeting, Black Diamond Town council approved a 2.91 per cent decrease in residential taxes over last year. When combined with the 4.78 per cent increase in housing assessment the average home valued at $339,550 will see a monthly increase of $4.10 in property taxes.
“We didn’t have a lot of opposition when we passed the budget,” said Black Diamond mayor Sharlene Brown. “I have real faith in the ability of our administration and council that we have always been able to try to keep things as low as we can. I hope people are happy with it.”
Last year, council approved a 1.5 per cent decrease for residential taxes and 2.6 per cent decrease for non-residential property taxes. This year’s taxes for non-residential properties will increase by 0.73, which means a property valued at $464,932 would experience a monthly increase of $23.37.
Brown said the Town gave businesses a break last year in light of the 2013 flood, which had a drastic economic impact on various businesses that summer. This year the Town aimed to bring the taxes back up to par.
“With a slight increase to the business tax it’s going to bring what they pay a little bit up to scale,” Brown said. “Hopefully it’s not going to have that much of an impact on the bottom line because the businesses create jobs in our community.”
Brown said most Black Diamond businesses are operated by independent merchants who hire locally and support the community, and it’s important the Town supports them.
“You don’t want to see that gap between residential and business too far increased,” she said. “We were trying to even it out, understanding that economic development is a huge component of our community.”
Black Diamond’s capital budget totals around $12 million for 2015, with the majority of the costs covered through grants and reserves, said Brown. Some of the bigger projects this year include the construction of a roof over the Scott Seaman Arena to reduce maintenance and operational costs and a growth management study that will take place over the next few years in conjunction with the MD of Foothills and Turner Valley.
The operating budget, which totals just under $3 million, saw a 2.42 per cent increase over last year, said Brown.
“There’s a lot of times that people say the municipal taxes are quite high,” she said. “They are, if you compare us to other communities like Calgary or Okotoks that are bigger centres.”
Brown said the Town’s taxes are average for communities of similar size, and that Black Diamond has more to offer.
“If you look at our business sector what do we have in our community - we have lots of amenities, we have lots of businesses,” she said. “When you look at the viability of our town we are way ahead of other communities of our size and stature. That’s what makes it a great place to live, work and hang out.”
