How to manage the 2019 Education Property Tax Requisition

Due to delays caused by the recent election, the 2019 budget will not be tabled until this fall.  This leaves municipalities wondering how to handle the 2019 Education Property Tax requisition.

Municipal Affairs’ responses to inquiries from municipalities are informed by section 168(4) of the School Act, which indicates that if the requisition has not been set by March 15, the municipality will continue to make payments based on the previous year’s amount. In practice, this means that until Budget 2019 is tabled, and the uniform education property tax rates are passed, municipalities will continue to be invoiced by the province based on the 2018 Education Property Tax requisition. 

With the budget not coming forward until the fall, municipalities may choose to estimate a 2019 education property tax requisition or may wish to delay setting a property tax bylaw until further information is available.

Municipalities may estimate a local education property tax rate by:

• Using 2019 equalized assessment data available from the local assessor and the 2018 uniform education tax rates.
• Using their 2018 Education Property Tax requisition.
• Using any other method that can be explained to taxpayers.

Once a 2019 provincial budget has been released, if the education property tax requisition is different from what municipalities have collected based on their own estimates, there are options to resolve the collection of too much or too little revenue:

• If there is an increase in the requisition, municipalities will need to use municipal funds or reserves to cover the difference and can recoup the difference in their 2020 local education property tax calculation.
• If the final Budget 2019 reduces their estimated requisition, municipalities can account for the difference in their 2020 local education tax rate calculation.

Municipalities are encouraged to contact an Education Property Tax and Equalized Assessment advisor with Municipal Affairs at 780-422-7125 or at taxprogramdelivery [at] gov.ab.ca (taxprogramdelivery[at]gov[dot]ab[dot]ca) with questions or to walk through these options.