Local Improvements

• Contact Engineering Services with your request using the contact information at the bottom of this page.

Engineering Services will provide you  with specific local improvement information using the “Local Improvement Request for Information” form, which will include: 

• a description of the proposed improvement;
• a description and map of intended improvement area;
• a list of the properties that will be affected by the improvement; and
• the overall estimated cost of the project.

• You will be required to prepare a petition and circulate it to the registered property owners of the affected area.  The petition should include the “Local Improvement Request for Information” form so owners are aware of the potential property tax increase.  Information on how to prepare a valid petition can be found at Alberta Municipal Affairs or contact the Town’s Legislative & Policy Services. 
• Submit the  petition, signed by 2/3 (two-thirds) of the registered property owners who would be responsible to pay the local improvement tax, to Legislative & Policy Services. The registered property owners who sign the petition must represent at least ½ (one-half) of the value of the assessed parcels of land on which the local improvement tax will be imposed. 
• Legislative & Policy Services will review the petition to determine if it is sufficient or insufficient, and notify you of the determination.  If the petition is insufficient, the local improvement will not proceed.

• Engineering Services will prepare a local improvement plan, and mail a Notice of Intent to Construct a Local Improvement to all registered property owners affected by the improvement. 
• The Notice of Intent will include:  
  • a description of the proposed improvement;
  • a description and map of intended improvement area;
  • financial details;
  • overall estimated cost of the project; and
  • annual and overall cost to each registered owner.
• Affected registered property owners will have 30 (thirty) days from the date on the notice to appeal against the project through the petition process.  If no petition is received, the local improvement will proceed. 
• If a petition is received, Legislative & Policy Services will review the petition to determine if it is sufficient or insufficient, and notify you  of the determination.  If the petition is sufficient, the local improvement will not proceed, and registered property owners will be notified.  

• Prior to commencement of the local improvement, a budget and “Local Improvement Tax Bylaw” would require adoption by Council.  This would authorize the Town to charge a local improvement tax on all affected properties.  If the budget and the Local Improvement Tax Bylaw are adopted, the project will proceed.  

• Once construction has been completed, registered property owners affected by the improvement will be notified of the final costs, and the individual assessments for both annual and one-time payment options. 
• The year following construction completion, the amount provided in the notice will be added to the registered property owner’s property taxes.  The registered owner has the option to make a one-time lump sum payment or annual payments over the amortization period. 

Once Council approves the project and construction has been completed, all registered property owners affected by the improvement are required to pay their assessed cost, even if they were opposed to the project.

All registered property owners affected by the local improvement are responsible for the cost of the project.

The cost of the local improvement is added to the registered property owner's taxes the year after construction. A registered property owner has the option of:

1. paying the full amount (lump sum) of the local improvement tax; or
2. amortizing the payment for a specified period.

The lump sum payment is less expensive than the amortized payment as interest is applied to the annual payment amount.

The cost depends on how much of your property is adjacent to or abuts the improvement, as well as the method used to distribute the local improvement cost among the affected properties. 

The Town provides a "Local Improvement Request for Information" sheet to resident(s) initiating the petition, which outlines project specifics and cost estimates.  Based on the requirements of the Municipal Government Act (MGA), the following methods have been established to distribute the local improvement cost among the benefiting property owners:

• each parcel of land;
• each unit of frontage; or
• each unit of area.