Grand Forks Council Talks Tax Rates for Boundary Extension

The City of Grand Forks initiated a project in April exploring a municipal boundary extension along North Fork Road and discussions will continue on October 10th.

City Council is expected to provide staff direction on tax-rate limits and water usage for properties being brought in from rural to municipal.

Corporate Officer Daniel Drexler explains:

“The difference is an average of $911 from coming in from the Regional District to it being within the city boundaries so some of these residential properties would see quite the sudden increase which could create some hardship for some of these individuals.”

“The local government act provides Council with an opportunity to offset that potential hardship, so instead of the $911 coming through in 2025 or whenever the taxes take over, this could be phased in over time, over a 20-year time span.” he adds

Some Councillors expressed support for phasing in the tax rate transition over 10 to 15 years.

Councillor Christine Thompson suggests a shorter timeline:

“I would suggest that perhaps five years would be a better time delay to implement the full increase.”

Nineteen properties are impacted, 16 of which are residential and would see an average increase of 37.1% in owed taxes. One property has an assessed business portion that would see a 26.2% increase. Another property has farm status which would see an overall increase of 46.5% on the residential portion.

The 234-acre extension area is north of Coalchute Road along North Fork Road.