Raymond property owners will see their total tax bill climb by an average of 6.02 per cent this year, even though Town Council lowered the residential municipal mill rate by 8.36 per cent. Tax and assessment notices were mailed to residents in May, and the increase is driven by higher property assessments and rising provincial and regional requisitions over which the municipality has no control.
According to a Mayor’s Message from Bryce Coppieters, the 2026 Tax Rate Bylaw was approved and the mill rate reduction marks the third consecutive year Council has taken that step. “Council has reduced the residential mill rate for three consecutive years,” the message states.
The biggest pressure comes from the Government of Alberta, which raised education property tax rates to $2.84 per $1,000 of equalized assessment for residential and farmland properties. The provincial education requisition jumped from $3.1 billion to $3.6 billion for the 2026-27 fiscal year. Similar trends are playing out across the province. In Sundre, the education funding requisition rose by nearly $100,000, and in Okotoks, education requisitions grew by almost 60 per cent over three years.
Raymond also collects seniors’ housing property taxes on behalf of regional housing foundations, another cost passed directly to property owners outside municipal control. Officials say the combination of assessment increases and these external requisitions is why tax bills are rising even as the town does what it can to reduce its own levy.
Residents with questions about their tax or assessment notices are encouraged to contact the Town of Raymond directly.
