Final property tax bill hike set at 4.6%

City council has finalized a controversial increase in the mill rate, which works out to an average hike of 4.6 per cent.

Council voted 10 to four in favour of the increase on Monday.

The actual increase for a homeowner will depend on their home's assessed value. Homeowners whose city property assessment remains the same will still have to pay 4.6 per cent more in 2009 than they did the year before. Business owners will pay 5.2 per cent more.

On a home assessed at about $427,000, the city median, the tax bill will increase by $95, for a total bill of just over $2,100.

Roughly half that amount is forwarded to the city, which set its increase at 5.3 per cent; the rest goes to the province as the education portion of the tax, which was set at 3.9 per cent.

Tax bills will be mailed out in the third week of May and are due the end of June.

Ald. Ric McIver said although the increase isn't as high as initially feared, Calgary homeowners are also getting hit with added user fees in 2009, including a new $12 a month fee for recycling and garbage pick-up.