Saskatchewan’s commercial ratepayers will see a 1.6 per cent increase in the education portion of their property taxes this year, but the newly released provincial budget couches some associated mill rate adjustments as an improvement in the overall fairness of the levy. For 2022, the commercial/industrial mill rate will be set at 6.86 — up from 6.75 last year. However, the spread has been tightened between the highest and lowest mill rates applied to Saskatchewan’s four property tax classes.
Province-wide, Saskatchewan will collect an extra 1.8 per cent in education property taxes (EPT) attributable to the new mill rates. Factoring in new assessment, the budget projects 2.6 per cent revenue growth to bump total EPT collectibles to about $804 million.
The upward adjustment in the residential mill rate — which rises to 4.54 from 4.46 — aligns closely with the provincial average, equating to a 1.79 per cent increase. The mill rate for agriculture property will climb 4.4 per cent, from 1.36 to 1.42, while resource properties are slated for a 0.9 per cent increase, with the mill rate bumped up from 9.79 to 9.88.
Last year, EPT fell about $4.1 million short of the forecast, with approximately $780.7 million collected versus the $784.8 million foreseen in the budget. In contrast, the budget document reports an unanticipated $13.3 million gain due to “higher-than-expected actual sales” of Crown land during 2021-22.
