Hospital Levy Now Reduced - New Levy Mentioned
For Moose Jaw taxpayers you now officially have a little bit of extra money in your wallet and it comes in the form in a reduction of the Hospital Levy on your tax bill.
The Hospital Levy - which is a defacto flat tax - was a levy assessed against all properties in the city. The levy additionally applied to every unit in multiple dwelling units such as apartment blocks as well as every mobile home in a mobile home park. The levy was to pay for the City’s $18.6 million share of the new hospital.
The levy was applied to property taxes prior to the Province announcing the new hospital and initially was $40. Funds were held in a reserve account. Once the new hospital was announced and the City’s share determined the levy was increased to $96.
“We are in a position now we are almost done doing that (paying the City’s required contribution),” Finance Director Brian Acker told Budget Committee.
The Levy will be paid off in 2019 and not needed in 2020.
In an unanimous 6 - 0 vote Budget Committee passed a resolution to reduce the Hospital Levy to $15 in 2019. Councillor Brian Swanson was absent from Wednesday evenings budget deliberations.
Once the Hospital Levy is paid off plans have called for converting the levy into an Infrastructure Levy to help pay for Cast Iron Water Main replacement. Those plans have yet to be approved.
Earlier in a separate portion of the meeting, City Engineer Josh Mickleborough told Budget Committee the Department had looked at an asphalt or paving levy as a potential source of funds for repairing streets.
He said similar levies in other communities had acceptance because the funds were dedicated to a particular type of work that citizens wanted.
Any potential levy to pave Moose Jaw roadways will NOT be part of the 2019 Budget but something the Department has looked at in future years.
The City of Moose Jaw is presently experiencing an infrastructure deficit where the cost of replacement of infrastructure outstrips the City’s ability to pay for it. The infrastructure deficit has existed for a number of years.
BUDGET 2019
Hospital Levy Reduced