Hold on to your wallets: property taxes could go up in 2017

You could be paying more for property taxes in the coming year.

The government is increasing the percentage of value (POV) of your home that is assessed to calculate taxes. The POV determines the taxable value from the assessed value.

That amount is then multiplied by the mill rate to determine how much property tax you will pay.

Property values have been rising in Saskatchewan from $108 billion in 2013 to $146 billion in 2017. Some farm land has gone up more than 100 per cent in four years.

The 2017 POV to be applied will be as follows:

• The non-arable (range) land or pasture land POV will increase to 45 per cent in 2017 compared to the 2013 rate of 40 per cent. The residential, multi-unit residential and seasonal residential POV will increase to 80 per cent in 2017 compared to the 2013 rate of 70 per cent.

All other POV are to remain the same for 2017 as they were for 2013:

• Cultivated agricultural land remains at 55 per cent.
• All Commercial/industrial will stay at 100 per cent.

But until the budget is set, Government Relations Minister Donna Harpauer can’t say how much your property tax will increase.

“Municipalities of course make their own decisions and those discussions and decisions will be made through this budget process,” Harpauer said.

The POV on pasture and range land was reduced significantly during the BSE crisis that impacted the cattle industry and producers so badly. The increase announced for 2017 is seen as an adjustment to more normal levels.