MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - County council has requested administration come back information on taxation of recreational vehicles (RVs) in the municipality.
Mike Krieger, manager of assessment services, presented the 2023 market assessment report at the recent council meeting, held in person and online.
Coun. Peggy Johnson asked Krieger what tax category RVs fall under, to which he replied residential property class.
“So it they are part of residential, does that mean they are taxed based on market value?” she said.
He said, “They would be yes.”
Johnson said, “So how much tax revenue does Mountain View County get from RVs or how much did we get this tax year?”
He said, “I would have to go back and compile that information. I apologize, but I don’t have that information handy at this point.”
Johnson said, “I see some winter storage of large numbers of RVs. I think we are starting to see some fairly old RVs where they aren’t being moved and I’m starting to have concerns about that.
“I would ask that administration bring back information on the tax revenue for RVs in Mountain View County for the year 2022, and also the trend in what this tax number is over the last four years.
“Is there any way to ask for the actual number of RVs that are being taxed in Mountain View County? Is that something you would have readily available?”
Krieger said, “There are some instances where there are multiple RVs assessed to one roll number. For trending it would seem that the total assessment for that type of property would add more value that the number of RVs.”
Reeve Angela Aalbers asked Johnson, “What would council use that information for?”
Johnson replied, “It is my observation that if people are doing winter storage, so you purchase an RV and then you bring it to a site and it sits at that site and you access it over time, that those RVs are a depreciating asset. I think those ones sort of age in place and then generate less tax revenue.”
Council carried a motion instructing administration to bring back the information on RV taxation.
During his presentation to council, Krieger went over property assessment statistics in the county, including for residential and non-residential.
“The majority of our revenue comes from property owners in the county,” he said. “This (market summary report) is one of the most important documents the county has to determine the future trends of property tax revenue. Understanding trends will give insight to the financial strength of the county.”
In 2022, total assessment values increased in all five property classes. Those classes are residential, non-residential, machinery and equipment, farmland and linear.
“With these increases in all five property classes, a total taxable assessment increase of 8.09 per cent was realized with an overall growth of 0.95 per cent attributed to real growth,” he said.
“This can be compared with last year’s overall growth of 5.24 per cent in assessment and 1.93 per cent attributed to real growth.”
Residential assessment increased 10.35 per cent or $264,196,990, non-residential increased 12.18 per cent or $42,233,030, machinery increased 3.24 per cent or $17,227,290, farmland increased 0.01 per cent or $11,010, and linear increased 5.43 per cent or $667,565,240.
The report included a chart outlining residential assessment comparisons in several areas of the county.
In Water Valley, the assessment increased 6.66 per cent, north of Olds it increased 5.88 per cent, south of Carstairs it increased 6.07 per cent, east of Didsbury 5.58 per cent, east of Sundre 6.33 per cent, east of Elkton 4.41 per cent, and east of Highway 2 5.18 per cent.
Farmland is currently assessed at $350 per acre for 100 per cent productive land. Total farmland assessment in the county in 2022 was $158,427,990.
Council received the market summary report as information. The complete report is posted on the county’s website.
