Edmonton property taxes set to go up 3.5 per cent in 2018

Homeowners in Edmonton can expect to pay 3.5 per cent more in property taxes this year higher than the increase council estimated late last year.

In December, council agreed to a 3.2-per-cent hike, which equals about $77 more a year for the owner of anaverage home assessed at $397,000.

The 3.5-per-cent increaseapproved by council on Tuesday means people owning homesassessed at the same value will pay about $2,468 in property taxes $83more per year.

• Edmonton property taxes to rise by 3.2 per cent in 2018
• Average home in Edmonton worth slightly more than 2016, according to city assessments

Theincreaseincludes money for neighbourhood renewal projects and theValley LineLRT.

Council on Tuesday approved an additional five items that hadn't previously been funded, including more than $1.9 million for police patrols when parts of Leduc County are annexed:

The increase for the mayor's and councillors' budgets goes toward running their offices and paying employees, Mayor Don Iveson said.

"Mainly it's driven by a need to catch up with inflation for the past few years," he said.

Ward 11 Coun. Mike Nickel and Ward 1 Coun. Andrew Knack voted against the increase to councillors' office budgets. Nickel said the budget for his ward office is balanced but since council as a whole passed the increase, he said the extra money will go to his staff.

"I have two incredible people who work for me," Nickel said. "I have an executive assistant that answers emails at 1:30 in the morning, that's how hard she works."

Annexation

The Edmonton Police Service said it will need 25 constables to patrol new areas in the annexation agreement between the city and Leduc County.

A city report shows about 730 people live in the annexed area but it covers about 83 square kilometres that need to be patrolled, southwest and southeast of the current Edmonton city boundaries.

• Council OKs $4.3M to police annexed land in Leduc County
• $4.3 million in policing costs for Leduc annex hard to justify: Edmonton mayor

The police service estimates it will need $4.3 million a year to patrol the annexed land, beginning next year.

Council still needs to give final approval to the tax bylaw at ameeting scheduled forApril 24.