Council passed the first three readings of the tax rate bylaw on Monday, and, pending final approval, the residential tax rate for general municipal taxes will be $4.9879 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
Adding in other rates, such as school tax and the municipal finance authority, will bring the total tax rate to $8.2386 per $1,000 of assessed property value, which is a 5.6 per cent increase. Last year’s total tax rate was $7.80270.
Council previously approved a general municipal tax increase of 0.4 per cent, in line with the five-year financial plan, but the number has been reduced to zero per cent.
As part of the budgeting process, staff estimate the amount of new revenue from growth in new construction and incorporate that into the overall rate increase. As 2014 estimates were conservative, city staff reported that unplanned growth will allow the city to reduce its portion of the tax increase to zero per cent.
According to B.C. Assessment, average single-family dwelling values in Abbotsford went up slightly from $420,000 in 2013 to $428,000 for 2014.