Town of Waldheim

A Community of Ideals, The Ideal Community!

Tax Rates & Mill Rates

Taxes are determined by assessments, property classes, base taxes & minimum taxes.

  • Property Classes And Values – set by the Province
    • Commercial: 100%
    • Residential: 70%
    • Agricultural: 55%
  • Assessments – set by SAMA (Sask. Assessment Management Agency).
  • Tax Methods – set by the municipality
    • Mill Rates
    • base taxes
    • minimum taxes

There are numerous ways & methods to determine taxes & each municipality determines how much they need to collect based on types of properties & budget numbers.

  1. Mill Rate: Basic taxes are figured out by the following: Assessment x mill rate = taxes. But because there are different classes the taxes on the same assessed values will be different. For example, a property assessed at $100,000 and a Mill Rate of 5.0 will result in the following taxes
    • Commercial Property (100% assessed value)
      • $100,000 @ 100% = $100,000 x 5.0 mills = $500 in taxes.
    • Residential Property (70% assessed value)
      • $100,000 @ 70% = $70,000 x 5.0 mills = $350 in taxes.
    • Ag Property (55% assessed value)
      • $100,000 @ 55% = $55,000 x 5.0 mills = $275 in taxes.
  2. Minimum Tax: Minimum taxes charges the same taxes to properties with an assessed value that is lower than a set value. This is used when it is determined that all properties receive the same basic services but if just the assessment basis was used then taxes on some properties would be very low while others would be quite high. It equalizes the costs for basic services. Assuming a minimum tax of $300 and a mill rate of 5.0.
    • Residential property assessed at $100,000
      • $100,000 @ 70%  = $70,000 x 5 mills = $350 (minimum tax not applied)
    • Residential assessed value of $80,000
      • $80,000 @ 70% = $56,000 x 5 mills = $280 (minimum tax applied) increased to $300.
  3. Base Tax: A base tax is added prior to using the above methods. Base tax=$200; $200 + Mill rate &/or Minimum tax.
    • Residential Property assessed at $100,000
      • $100,000 @ 70% = $70,000 x 5.0 mills = $350 in taxes + base tax ($200) = $550.
    • Residential Property assessed at $80,000
      • $80,000 @ 70% = $56,000 x 5.0 mills = $280 in taxes + Minimum tax increase to $300 + base tax ($200) = $500.
  4. There are also mill rate factors that can be used and applied to the different property classes: The following applies a factor of 1.5 to the mill rate for Commercial & 0.8 to Residential:
    • Commercial Property assessed at $100,000 value x 7.5 mills (5 mills x 1.5 factor) = $750
    • Residential Property assessed at $100,000 value @ 70% = $70,000 x 4 mills (5 mills x 0.8 factor) = $280.

As you can see there are numerous ways to determine taxes. The Town Of Waldheim uses a combination of mill rate, minimum tax & base tax. If you have any questions on how your tax is determined, please contact the Town Office.