'Why am I living here?': Prince Albert resident fights high taxes on new home

Property tax battle WATCH: A Prince Albert man takes his fight over a property tax hike public.

An East Hill home owner says his City of Prince Albert property taxes increased by 25 per cent in 2021 with no improvements to his house, so he’s filed an appeal.

“It was a shock I mean. When you see an increase of 25 percent and 51, 52 percent in six months it really makes you wonder, why am I living here?” said Dave Fischl.

The city did not increase taxes in 2021 however a revaluation took place in all properties in accordance with the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency.

Fischl addressed Prince Albert City Council with his concerns and says he’s back by the majority of the people in his neighbourhood.

“We have a house built in 2011. It’s basically the same as most houses in our area and those are ones that got hit the hardest,” said Fischl.

He says his property tax went from $5,790 to $7,258 a tax increase of 25.35 percent. He’s had his home re-assessed but the city hasn’t disclosed his assessment value.

In a news release on Thursday, The City of Prince Albert said some home owners saw a 30 per cent increase in 2021 after a revaluation of city properties.

The city says middle valued homes in Prince Albert dropped in value, causing fewer properties to carry a larger portion of the tax load.

“At that particular time, values were quite high and as a result the properties were valued higher, some went up a lot,” said Ward 4 City Councillor Don Cody about the increase in 2021.

Fischl estimates over 200 properties could be facing similar tax bills after the revaluation. He’s asking the city to consider changes to their property taxation calculation process.

On Monday, Prince Albert city council will consider a report from administration and pass the annual Property Tax Bylaw.

Administration recommends a 1.8 per cent mill rate increase for 2022 along with a $40 base tax for residential properties, $20 base tax per apartment in multi-residential properties and a tiered base tax for commercial properties. This combination of tax tools including the mill rate and base tax will raise to $1.8 million.

“The mill rate that you have on your property of 1.8 per cent and then there’s a flat tax of $40 and so that level the playing field a little bit more,” said Cody.

The proposed increase to the minimum base tax from $672 to $772 which ensures all properties pay at least this amount to contribute to funding city services, such as the police, fire department, arenas, field house, theatre and library.

“There are certain services that everyone gets whether you have a big house and small house or an empty lot,” said Cody.

He says with the proposed changes, those with recently build homes will be some abatement in their 2022 taxes.