Municipal taxpayers were warned last year when the pandemic hit that the deferred tax increase would have to be made up.
That’s why, says Mayor Denis Clement, part of your tax bill is going up six-point-eight percent this year.
“This includes a catch-up of a 3.5% tax increase that was deferred from 2020 and an additional 2.3% for 2021 operating budget,” he points out.
The other 1.0% is for infrastructure renewal, something the mayor says is badly needed in Cochrane.
Staff is still working on the final amount, trying to keep the increased capital debt at $1.3- million.
“The budget came in at 1.8,” Clement notes, “so staff are going back and pulling that back at a 1.3 and it’ll be some major repair work on the roads and some sewer repairs.”
Your final tax bill depends on the education portion of it.