Cochrane's growth exceeded expectations by a half per cent and to no one's surprise has been fuelled by more homes being constructed.

Gail Butz, town manager of assessment and taxation, told council last night (Jan. 15) the town's property assessment grew by 4.2 per cent, higher than the predicted growth of 3.87 per cent.

"It's due mainly to the favourable weather conditions and the market demand for some of these projects and houses that were finished earlier than anticipated," Butz explained.

She reported that residential properties account for 89.74 per cent of the town's assessment, up from 88.65 per cent in 2023, when you take into account the properties that are part of the Community Revitalization Levy (CRL), basically the Quarry commercial district.

It's even more when you removed the CRL properties--91.27 per cent, up from 90.27 per cent. Taxes collected from the CRL zone are used exclusively for infrastructure improvements in that zone.

The averaged assessment single-family dwelling is now $615,000, fuelled by market demand, a 9.68 per cent increase. The average assessment of townhomes/duplexes is $460,000, up 12 per cent and the assessed value of condominiums grew 14 per cent to $330,800.

Assessment notices are being mailed on Jan. 18 and property owners have until Mar. 26 to ask any questions or express concerns on how they were calculated.

Whether or not the increase in the assessment will have an impact upon the tax rate increase won't be known until later this spring when council sets the tax rate. Council approved a 3.63 per cent budget increase in December.

So what does that mean to property owners?

As a guideline, property taxes will change based on how much an individual property’s value has changed relative to the average change for its property type (residential or non-residential), explain town officials. If a property’s assessed value has increased more than the average, its portion of property tax will be larger than the average. If a property’s assessed value has a similar change to the average or decreases, its portion of property tax will see a similar change or be smaller than the average.

tax breakdownWhere property taxes go. (image/Town of Cochrane)

When tax notices are issued, 32 cents of every dollar collected is for the province's education taxes. The town receives 67 cents and the Rocky View Foundation, which provides subsidized seniors housing, receives one penny.