Are you in the CRL area? Read about the CRL and your current property assessment.
Council approved the CRL on November 26, 2012. Read the final report (PDF).
The CRL was approved by the province in December 2012.
A Community Revitalization Levy (CRL) is a unique funding opportunity provided by the province to accelerate the redevelopment of a specific area.
This levy is adopted by municipal council and the province, and is applied to increases in assessed value to the properties within the CRL boundary.
A Community Revitalization Levy is not an additional property tax. When there are increases to assessed property values, the municipal revenue and the provincial education portion of the property tax collected on the increased value will be spent on public improvement projects in the CRL area. This funding mechanism does not require tax revenues from other areas in town to pay for these public improvement projects.
What area is affected?
Twenty-three hectares (57 acres) in the downtown will be included in the CRL bylaw.
How does the CRL work?
A Community Revitalization Levy is designed to spur redevelopment of an underutilized area like the lands proposed in Cochrane. Once approved by the municipality and the province, the CRL would work in the following way:
- A baseline property value would be established for the CRL area based on the value as of December 31 of the year in which the CRL Bylaw and Plan are adopted by the Town and the province.
- Tax revenue from the baseline assessment continues to go into general revenue for the municipality; the education tax portion continues to go to the province
- The taxes estimated to be raised from the baseline value over the next 20 years ranges from $5.2M to $6.9M. Of this, the Town of Cochrane would receive approximately $3.4M to $4.4M and the province would receive the remaining $1.8M to $2.5M. The money that the Town receives from the baseline value would go into general operating revenue.
- Taxes from the increased value of the CRL properties above the baseline would all go to the municipality. This is estimated to be $13.8M to $17.9M over the next 20 years, with the Town receiving approximately $4.7M to $6.1M that would have ordinarily gone to the province.
- This redirected tax revenue from the province must go into public improvement projects within the revitalization area only. It cannot be used as general revenue for the operation of the municipality.
For more information and a map of the area, download the overview brochure (PDF).
Download the information boards from the open house (PDF), held April 19, 2012.
For more information, contact Stephen Utz, Planner II/Development Officer at 403-851-2577 .