Manitoba farmers have been given some tax relief.
The province has announced it will reduce the portion of farm property assessment that is subject to taxation. The measure will save farmers $7 million a year in taxes, said intergovernmental affairs minister Jean Friesen.
The current tax portion for farm property is 30 percent, which is the percentage of a property’ s value that is taxed.
The change comes into effect for the 2002 tax year.
Keystone Agricultural Producers has lobbied for years to lower property taxes for farmers. KAP vice-president Weldon Newton regards the measure as a “good first step.”
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“It’ s not a perfect solution but KAP supports any savings the government passes along.”
A province-wide reassessment is under way to establish property values for the purpose of municipal and education taxation.
Farmland values rose considerably in many areas of the province between the previous reference year of 1995 and 1999, the reference year being used for the current reassessment.
Newton said the tax relief was needed because farm properties, according to the reassessment, have shown an average increase in value of 42 percent.
The land value helps decide who pays what portion of municipal and education taxes. Without the adjustment planned for 2002, taxes on farmland could have climbed substantially, Newton said.
“Most property taxes will still go up based on the higher assessments. But this announcement means that the tax hit next year will be much less than it could have been.”
