LAC LA BICHE - While the overall tax bill in Lac La Biche will be going up, the mill rate is staying the same after Lac La Biche County council passed all three readings of its 2025 tax rate by law at the April 29 meeting.
“County taxes increase for most properties due to assessment changes only. The mill rate has no change whatsoever from 2024, and the total estimated municipal tax revenue would be $77.6 million approximately, which is approximately $4.4 million higher than what we budgeted for in the 2025 budget,” said Hafsah Moghrabi, the general manager of corporate services for Lac La Biche County.
The mill rate is how much property tax is payable per $1,000 of assessed value. Property taxes are calculated by multiplying the assessed value by the mill rate and dividing by 1,000.
According to Lac La Biche County budget documents, the 2025 mill rates are as follows: 3.3746 for residential and farmland properties, 10.1500 for urban non-residential, and 19.0130 for rural non-residential.
According to Moghrabi, residential and non-residential properties both increased in assessed value, but farmland did not see any increase in assessment.
“The municipal assessment services group . . . they noted that the residential assessment inflation increases of just over six per cent overall, non-residential assessment inflation of 3.5 per cent overall, and then the farmland saw no assessment increases based on inflation whatsoever,” said Moghrabi.
In addition to the increase in assessed property values, the mill rates for the school taxes and the Greater North Foundation are both increasing.
School taxes are set by the province and collected by the municipality. Those are increasing by 6.75 per cent to 2.6351 mills for both residential and farmland properties, and by 8.63 per cent to 3.7267 for non-residential properties.
The contribution to the Greater North Foundation is also increasing by 1.55 per cent to 0.1333 on all properties. Greater North Foundation provides social housing and seniors’ lodging in the M.D. of Bonnyville, Lac La Biche County, Athabasca County, and M.D. of Opportunity.
With the end of the tax holiday for pipelines, and the addition of 62 pipelines and 192 wells to the tax roll in Lac La Biche County, the assessed value of designated industrial has grown by $99 million in 2025, according to Moghrabi.
“The provincial assessors, their 2025 key updates were that the [designated industrial] assessment grew by over nine per cent year over year,” said Moghrabi.
Tax notices will be mailed out by May 16 with payment due by June 30.
“There is a possible postal strike that is scheduled as early as May 22, 2025. Lac La Biche County does have a bylaw for electronic format to communicate for our taxes. Residents are encouraged to go online and fill out the form to have your tax notices sent to you via email,” said Moghrabi.
