Frequently Asked Questions

There are several ways to make property tax payments in the Town of Diamond Valley.  Please review the list to choose the option best for you.

• Join TIPP (Tax Installment Payment Program).  This program provides for monthly automatic withdrawals to pay your property taxes without late payment penalties for accounts in good standing.
• Online banking with your financial service provider.  You make your own payments through your bank at your discretion.  Please call your bank’s branch for further information or to set up your online banking account.
• Cheques can be mailed to the Town Office, brought into the Town Office during regular business hours or placed in the overnight depository (just left of the Town Office's main doors on the upper level). 
• Cash is accepted at the Town Office during regular office hours. Please do not mail cash or use the overnight depository for cash payments.
• Interac/Debit cards can be used during regular office hours at the Town Office.  Debit cards are (generally) subject to daily transaction limits.  If you wish to pay the full amount of your property tax in one payment, please get in touch with your bank to determine your daily transaction limit before visiting the Town Office.
• Credit Card payments may be made online, using Option Pay.  All transaction fees applicable to any credit card payments will be the sole responsibility of the cardholder, and will be automatically charged to the cardholder’s account.
• E-Transfers can be sent to info@diamondvalley.town please include "Tax Payment / Roll Number or Address" in the comments section to ensure your payment is accounted for.
• P.I.T. (Principal Interest Taxes) - you will have arranged for your mortgage company to pay your property taxes each year, and include that amount in your mortgage payments. *Note: If you are paying out your mortgage in the near future, you will need to determine the method that best suits you to handle your property taxes after your mortgage is fully paid. Please check with your mortgage holder to determine your needs if this is the case for you.

If you are not making your payment in person at the office, the Town does not (generally) mail out receipts.  However, if you would like to receive a receipt for your payment, please let us know when you make your payment.  You can also call the office or email the Tax Clerk and request that a receipt be mailed or emailed to you.  

To enrol or continue in the TIPP program, you must understand and maintain your TIPP account in good standing.  The following Terms & Conditions apply, as well as those set out by the Town of Diamond Valley TIPP Bylaw.

1. You authorize the Town and its financial institution(s) to continually debit the stated bank account on the 4th day of each month to make payments on your property tax account. 
2. You acknowledge that when current year taxes are unknown, the debited instalments will be estimated on the prior year’s taxes until the current year tax information is available for recalculation. 
3. Your tax account must be at a NIL balance at year-end for you to automatically participate in the TIPP program in the following year. Any credit balance on the tax account remaining at the end of the calendar year will be applied to the following year’s payments. 
4. This plan will remain in effect until cancelled. You are responsible for advising the Town, in writing, at least 15 days in advance, of any changes required to the next automatic payment (e.g. Payor information, bank account changes, cancellation of the plan, etc.). If there is a property ownership change, you are responsible for notifying the Town to cancel the program in writing. 
5. Any dishonoured payments by your bank will incur a fee, which must be paid before resuming your participation in the program. 
6. The Town has the right to cancel your participation in the program, per the Bylaw, if your account is no longer in good standing. 
7. Monthly payment instalments will be recalculated periodically. You will be notified of calculations that result in changed payments. 
8. Any correspondence sent by the Town will be directed to the property's registered owner(s) only. 
9. By submitting this application to the Town, you agree to be bound by the TIPP Bylaw and the Terms & Conditions of this agreement. 
10. You have certain recourse rights if any debit does not comply with this agreement. For example, you have the right to receive reimbursement for any debit that is not authorized or is not consistent with this agreement. To obtain more information on your recourse rights, contact your financial institution or visit http://www.cdnpay.ca

Instalment payments are calculated when you join TIPP, based on the timing.  All TIPP accounts must be paid in full by year-end, or they will not be considered "in good standing" and penalties will apply.

Payments are automatically recalculated in January and July of each year, to ensure that account holders can ensure payment in full by year-end.

If for any reason, an account holder in good standing needs to temporarily terminate their TIPP account but wishes to re-enrol before the end of the year, the instalment payments can be recalculated to ensure the account is paid in full by year-end.

Please remember that if you participate in the Tax Installment Payment Plan (TIPP), no additional payment on your taxes is required when you receive your annual tax notice. 

Assessment notices are mailed in advance of the property tax bills to allow property owners the opportunity to review the assessed value and ensure it is reasonable prior to the tax bill being sent out in June.

Council sets the tax rates in late May or early June. Tax bills are typically mailed mid-June

For information about changing school declaration, please visit the School Support Notification page.

No. An increase in assessed value does not directly equate to a tax increase. 

• Tax might increase, but it is not because of increased assessment.
• Assessment does not determine tax rates. Only Town Council has authority to levy municipal tax.
• Property taxes are dependent on, and are a function of, Town Operating budgets and Provincial request for education funding.
• Taxes will increase because of increased Town operating budget and/or increased requisitions from the Province for education funding.
• The assessed value only allocates each property's proportionate share slice of the total tax pie.

The amount of tax allocated to each property is correlated with value not services. Municipal tax is exactly that; a tax.  It is not a fee for services rendered on each individual property.  It is a tax levied in relationship to value.  Municipal tax paid is akin to income tax, which has no direct relationship, to services rendered for each taxpayer.  Municipal tax paid is in relation to the property value and is not an accounting of services rendered to each individual property.

Your property tax bill generally consists of two major items: (1) municipal taxes and (2) provincial education property taxes.

Municipal property taxes are set by the municipality to pay for local municipal services such as road maintenance and snow clearing, street lighting, parks and recreation facilities, RCMMP and fire protection, land use planning, community programs and seniors accommodations through a requisition. For more details, view the chart showing where your tax dollars go.

Education property taxes are set by the Government of Alberta. The municipality collects the tax and forwards it to the Government of Alberta to pay for primary and secondary education delivered by schools boards across the province. The Town of Diamond Valley has no control over this amount.

The education property tax rate is calculated different from property tax rates. Each year, the Government of Alberta will determine the total amount of revenue to be drawn from property taxes from across the province to pay for the K-12 education system. The province bills each municipality for its share of the education property tax requirement. This is known as the “education property tax requisition” or “education tax.” 

Each municipality uses the following formula to calculate its local education tax rate that will be taxed on properties: Local education tax rate = municipality’s education tax requisition ÷ total assessed value of all properties

For example: A municipality’s education property tax requisition is $1,200,000 and the total value of assessed property is $475,000,000. Therefore, the calculation is $1,200,000 ÷ $475,000,000 = a local education tax rate of 0.0025.

Note: This calculation only offers a simplified explanation of how education tax rates are determined and do not account for the creation of multiple tax rates for each type of property. For example, the provincial education tax requisition is split between residential and non-residential properties so a municipality will have two different education tax rates depending on the type of property.

The Government of Alberta offers the Seniors Property Tax Deferral Program that allows eligible senior homeowners to defer all or part of their property taxes through a low-interest home equity loan with the Alberta government. If you qualify, the Alberta government will pay your residential property taxes to the municipality on your behalf. You re-pay the loan, with interest, when you move or sell the home, or sooner if you wish.

The City of Airdrie has created an easy-to-understand video about property assessment and taxation. The City of Edmonton also has a video to help explain how municipal taxation works.

No, you cannot appeal your taxes. Property taxes are based on the municipal tax rates that are applied to the values of all properties in a municipality. You may appeal the assessed value of your property but it must be done during the period specified on your assessment notice.

 While a property owner cannot appeal the taxes on an individual property, property owners can contact their municipality’s administration or council to discuss opportunities to minimize the level of taxation on all property owners in the future.