Bailey Sutherland
Special to the Herald

A concerned Prince Albert homeowner spoke in front of City Council at Monday’s meeting to discuss the tax increase to his neighborhood of Guy Drive.

In January of last year, the City announced there would be no increase to property tax revenue. Dave Fischl assumed this would mean his property tax would be roughly the same as in previous years and was shocked to find it raised by over 25 per cent.

Fischl had his home reassessed in January of 2021, the value of which increased by almost 11% since his last reassessment three years prior, while his property taxes jumped from $5790 to $7258. In July of 2021, his monthly property tax payment increased by $245 and would stay that way until 2022. With 6 months left of the year, he was responsible for the costly and unexpected difference.

“This is just something I created to show how steep [property tax] went, when really, the price of our house only went up 11 per cent,” Fischl said of his presentation. “I’ve talked to a lot of people that have the same issue as myself and I’ve heard that there are close to 200-plus homes in the city that have had a significant increase.”

Fischl said he would like Council to consider a higher base tax before they pass the annual Property Tax Bylaw.

“We all have the same fire, police, and street cleaning services, along with other basic services,” he said. “I believe a 25 per cent increase is just not fair.”

Council voted to receive and file the presentation without any questions or comments.