Property taxes differ throughout the country, and compared to many municipalities around Canada, Cochrane homeowners should be fairly happy with what they pay each year.
Leaving the education portion out of the equation and basing one’s tax bill on a home assessed at $430,000 (roughly the median value in Cochrane), Cochranites would fork over about $2,000 a year for municipal taxes.
Based on that same home assessment, Cagarians would pay around $1,611, Canmorites $2,300, Medicine Hat residents $2,600 and Edmontonians $2,381.
So all in all, Cochrane is pretty much at the lower end of the property tax spectrum.
Looking west, property taxes in B.C. seem to be a bit lower than in Alberta (similar to Calgary), with people in Kelowna paying around $1,649 for a $430,000 home, and Vancouverites $2,322, but that amount being based on the city’s average home assessment value of a whopping $631,000.
Vancouver actually has the lowest property taxes of any major city in Canada.
Moving east, Saskatoon has the reputation of having the highest property taxes of any major Canadian city, paying $4,440 for a home worth $353,000.
However, in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. (the Eagle editor’s hometown), the average home is assessed at around $130,000, and homeowners would pay $2,528. If there were ever a $430,000 home built in The Soo – of which there are very few – the lucky owner of that ‘mansion’ would pay $6,348 in property taxes for the year.
So does this mean that Cochranites shouldn’t be too disgruntled if their property taxes were to increase in the coming years?
The answer to this question would of course depend on whom you ask, but according to the recent Ipsos Reid poll, people in Cochrane are quite happy with how their tax dollars are being spent, and the majority (66 per cent) even said they would be willing to pay more taxes to expand town services.
What is the basis behind this generosity?
Taxes come in all shapes and sizes – municipal, education, provincial, federal, sales…the list goes on and on – and, along with death, taxes are the only thing guaranteed in life, but the type of willingness voiced by the majority of Cochranites to pay higher taxes for more services can only be the result of a collective group that doesn’t pay a whole lot to begin with, right?
Or is there some other reason behind 66 per cent of our town wanting to give more?
Cochrane’s median income in 2005 was $83,000, higher than Calgary, Airdrie, Okotoks and Alberta as a whole ($63,988). Couple households with children had an average income of nearly $107,000 in Cochrane.
According to Statistics Canada, the median income for Canadian families is $74,540, and if you make $80,400 or more, you are in the richest 10 per cent.
Even more interesting, is that the median income for an individual Canadian (not a family) is $27,600.
So, although people don’t like to talk about how much they earn, or feel it’s rude to highlight such matters, many Cochrane residents are well aware that they are in the upper echelon of income earners in the entire country.
Does this mean that the theory behind largesse could be this: if something is not demanded from people, they will be more willing to offer it on their own?
Does that fact that Cochrane’s taxes have been kept relatively low result in the kinds of generous attitudes we have seen revealed in the Ipsos Reid poll?
Would homeowners in Sault Ste. Marie and Saskatoon (even those who are earning high salaries) be as willing to pay more property taxes if they were asked?
This could simply be a ridiculous argument…perhaps all Canadians, despite their income or how much they pay in taxes, would want to pay more to their municipal governments or local charitable organizations.
Another interesting stat: the Fraser Institute did a study in 2010 showing that Albertans gave the most to charity by average ($2,289), with B.C. second ($1,832). Quebec was the lowest ($641), and Nova Scotia was also near the bottom, giving $1,129.
Is this simply because there are wealthier people in Albert and B.C. who are looking for a tax writeoff?
Residents of Quebec and Nova Scotia pay some of the highest income tax rates in Canada, while Alberta and B.C. are in the lower end.
So, again, if the government does not take, are we more willing to give?
