EDMONTON, AB: On Monday, Wildrose Shadow Municipal Affairs Minister Pat Stier asked the NDP government to set the record straight on how linear assessment and machinery and equipment taxes will be distributed among both rural and urban municipalities.
The questions on linear assessment follow the publication of a number of articles that discussed potential changes to the formula and that contradicted comments made by Municipal Affairs Minister Danielle Larivee last March when she said, “there will be no redistribution of linear assessment from rural Alberta to Calgary, Edmonton, or any other city. Linear dollars will stay in rural communities serving rural Albertans.”
“Municipalities remain very concerned with the level of uncertainty that has been created about potential changes to how linear taxes will be distributed,” Stier said. “They need to know what this government’s long-term view of this issue is.”
Stier also asked about potential changes to machinery and equipment property taxes.
“Once again, municipalities need to know if there are any changes forthcoming, but the government continues to ask them to wait until it completes its review.”