Education Property Tax

Overview:

Education taxes are not subject to control or review by the City of Lethbridge. Mandated and regulated by Provincial legislation, the City is responsible for administering and collecting education taxes on behalf of the Province, specifically for public and separate school boards.

Annual Determination:

The Alberta Government annually determines the total revenue required for education purposes across the province through the property taxation system. The total assessment of all properties in a municipality is used as the basis to calculating the municipality's share of the total provincial amount. Every municipality's share of the total provincial amount is called the education property tax requisition. Annually, the Province issues these requisitions to all municipalities, obligating them to collect the necessary revenue through property assessment and taxation.

Your Contribution:

Your property assessment is used to calculate your share of the revenue required for the City's requisition. The City collects this portion from your property tax bill and remits it to the Alberta Government. It's important to note that this is not additional revenue for the City.

Who Pays:

All property owners in Lethbridge, both residential and non-residential, are obligated to pay education property taxes, regardless of whether they have children in school or are senior citizens.

School Support Declaration:

Property owners in areas with a separate school district can file a School Support Declaration to declare their Roman Catholic faith. Failure to return this notice results in the property being assessed as public, and education property taxes are then directed to the Alberta School Foundation Fund. Regardless of declaration, all funds are redistributed on an equal per-student amount to the public and separate school boards. Property owners can update their School Support Notice at any time, with changes taking effect in the next calendar year.

School Support Declaration Form

Use of Education Tax:

As outlined by the Government of Alberta,

"Education property taxes support public and separate school students in grades 1 to 12. Education property taxes are pooled and then distributed to all Alberta school boards on a per-student basis. The majority of, these funds are for instruction, teacher salaries, textbooks, and other classroom resources."

For more details, refer to Alberta Education Property Tax .