Property Taxes

Ways to pay your taxes

Debit or Cash

• In person at the Town, 5012 - 48 Avenue

• Received date: The date you pay in person. Please keep your receipt as proof of payment by the deadline

Credit card

• Third party fees apply with credit card payments
• Pay in person at the Town: 5012 - 48 Avenue
• Received date: The date of your credit card payment. Please keep your receipt as proof of payment by the deadline
• To make a property tax payment with OptionPay, you need:

Through your bank

• In person at your bank:
  • Make sure the bank enters your eight-digit tax roll number as your account number
  • Online/phone banking:
    • Add us as a payee: "Town of Sylvan Lake-TAXES"
    • Use your tax roll number as your account number
    • Allow enough time for your payment to reach our office by your due date. Every bank is different
    • Received date: Your payment is marked received when the Town receives your payment, not the date you make your payment

•  
  • Received date: The date you pay in person. Please keep your receipt as proof of payment by the deadline

Cheque

• Make cheques payable to the Town of Sylvan Lake
• If your cheque does not clear after the deadline, late fees apply
• Postdated cheques must be dated on or before the due date on the front of your notice
• By mail to: Taxes, 5012 - 48 Avenue, Sylvan Lake, AB, T4S 1G6
• Canada Post delivery times are unpredictable so allow enough time for your payment to reach our office by the due date on your bill
• Received date: The date of Canada Post's postmark. If the postmark is absent or illegible, the effective date is the date of the Town's receipt. The imprint of a postage meter is not acceptable

• In person at the Town: 5012 - 48 Avenue

•  
  • Received date: The date you pay in person. Please keep your receipt as proof of payment by the deadline

• After hours drop off for cheques only: Leave your cheque and invoice in our drop box on the west side of the building (5012  48 Avenue), at the bottom of the stairs.
• Do not leave cash in the drop box
• Received date: The business day staff empty the box

Lump sum payments

• Make lump sum payments any time onto your tax account
• The total balance is due each year on the due date of July 31 without penalty. ( Online banking through your own bank- Town of Sylvan Lake-TAXES)

Please keep in mind: 

• Penalties and administration fees are applied to dishonoured payments
• We do not accept payments associated with conditions
• All payments are first applied to arrears of taxes, before being applied to current taxes

The Tax Installation Payment Plan (TIPP) helps you pay your property taxes monthly with automated withdrawals. Sign up today and never worry about a late payment again.

Details

• TIPP payments are not transferable
• You must complete a new TIPP application for new properties

• If you change your bank account, you must notify us, in writing, 15 days prior to the next due date

• All installment amounts are reviewed in December. If an adjustment is made to your installment amount, we will notify you

• The last day to start TIPP for the current year, is June 15

• Cancelling:
  • TIPP automatically continues year to year, so you must notify us in writing 15 days prior to the next payment to cancel
  • If you sell your property, you must notify us, in writing, 15 days prior to the next due date to cancel the payment

Forms

• Pre-authorization debit form
• Pre-authorized withdrawal form
• Bank account change form

Municipal

• Residential: 0.00663100
• Commercial: 0.01174300
• Designated Industrial: 0.01174300
• Machinery and Equipment: 0.01174300

School

• Residential: .00251280
• Commercial: .00362280
• Designated Industrial: .003362280
• Machinery and Equipment: n/a

Lodge

• Residential: 0.00014520
• Commercial: 0.00014520
• Designated Industrial: 0.00014520
• Machinery and Equipment: 0.00014520

Recreation

• Residential: 0.00031630
• Commercial: 0.00031630
• Designated Industrial: 0.00031630
• Machinery and Equipment: 0.00031630

Transportation

• Residential: 0.00024650
• Commercial: 0.00024650
• Designated Industrial: 0.00024650
• Machinery and Equipment: 0.00024650

Designated Industrial

• Residential: n/a
• Commercial: n/a
• Designated Industrial: 0.00007650
• Machinery and Equipment: n/a

Total

• Residential: 0.00985180
• Commercial: 0.0160738
• Designated Industrial: 0.01615030
• Machinery and Equipment: 0.0125275

• If you don't have yours by May 30, contact us: tax@sylvanlake.ca, 403 864 5636 (see business hours)

Go paperless! Sign up to receive assessment and tax notices by email.

• Sign up form

• How are property tax rates set?
• Property Assessment and Tax 101
• Guide to property assessment and taxation in Alberta
• Learn how the Town of Sylvan Lake uses budgeting to set property tax rates.

The mailing address for property tax bills can only be changed by the property owner. 

How to:

• Complete the Name/Address Change Form
• Email to reception@sylvanlake.ca

The education tax on your tax invoice is the Alberta Education Tax.

• The cost of is set by the Province of Alberta’s Municipal Affairs department and based on property assessment values
• This rate is set in the spring and released with the provincial budget. We do our best to estimate the amount in advance, but the Province decides on the education tax rate each spring

Who receives the funds

• Funds from all across Alberta are pooled in the in the Alberta School Foundation Fund to ensure that students receive a quality education no matter where they live

Learn more

• Education Tax Information
• Education Property Tax Facts Information 2024

The Town of Sylvan Lake is home to both a Public and Catholic school district. All property owners pay into the provincial government's Education Tax and must declare support of school district.

Individual declaration form

Corporation and Cooperatives declaration form

Our Property Tax and Assessment Calculator identifies:

• Estimated property taxes
• Your property's garbage collection day, and collection location
• Previous and current property assessment values
• Land use/zoning
• Lot dimensions
• Year of build
• Legal property description
• Assessment Rate Payer Report
• You can export your property information and a map of your lot to a PDF

We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information provided, though we make every effort to do so. If you encounter an error, please contact our tax department at 403 887 2141.

Map your property with the My Property Map Tool, including:

• Aerial (August, 2023) view of property location
• Current property assessment values
• Assessment Rate Payer Report
• Land Use Zoning
• Map with Lot dimensions
• Year of build
• Legal property description
• Photo of building
• If the link doesn't work, please copy and paste the following into your browser address bar: https://geo.sylvanlake.ca/propertysearchtool

Civic and Land use maps

• View land use maps

We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information provided, though we make every effort to do so. If you encounter an error, please contact our tax department at 403 887 2141.

Overdue utility, snow removal, or weed control bills may be added to your property tax bill:

• These amounts are due immediately and do not qualify for the tax installment payment plan
• If these are added to your property tax bill, you may be removed from the tax installment payment plan

In Sylvan Lake, we mail out a combined Assessment and Tax Notice at the end of May each year. Your property taxes are based on the assessed value of your home. The Province of Alberta legislates that municipalities must do annual market value-based assessments.

Who sets property values?

• Our third party contractor does property assessments
• Neither the Town nor the contractor controls factors that change the market value of your home, such as:  
  • Renovations
  • Increases in market value
  • If your assessed value goes up, your final tax amount will also go up even if the tax rates stay the same

Why is assessed value used for taxes?

• Property assessments help distribute the costs of services across residents and businesses
• The more expensive a property, the more tax is paid
• The assessed value is a property’s market value for July 1 of the previous year. It is the amount that a property might be expected to sell for on the open market

What do property assessment values fund?
Assessment value determines how much tax you pay on:

• Municipal tax
• Sylvan Lake Lodge Foundation tax
• Alberta Provincial Education tax

Assessment Appeal Procedure
If you disagree with your property assessment information, you may file an appeal:

• You may only appeal your property’s assessment value
• An appeal does not exempt you from paying your taxes by the due date
• We make arrangements to discuss your assessment with our contracted assessor
• We help you complete an assessment complaint and appeal form before July 31, 2025
• The assessor determines if your assessed value is comparable to similar properties in the area
• Fees
  • Residential (three units or less): $50.00
  • Non-residential (four units or more): $650.00
  • Refunded if the review board decides in your favour
• Learn more about filing a property assessment complaint and preparing for your hearing
• We can help you through this process, contact tax@sylvanlake.ca, or 403 864 5636

The Province requires annual market value-based assessments.

To create annual assessments the municipal property assessor can issue a Request For Information (RFI) to the assessed party for any property type. The Town of Sylvan Lake contracts Wild Rose Assessment Services to provide assessment information.

Non-residential property types

• Are often includes multi-family, commercial, industrial property
  

• Non-residential category is generally any property that is not a single-family dwelling lot or building
  

 
How will you receive your RFI?

• Usually mailed by the Town
• Sometimes emailed by the assessor
• Both are valid and require your response within 67 days

How do I respond?

• Send your completed RFI directly to the assessor
• You may request an electronic copy of the RFI by contacting Wild Rose Assessment Services 403 343 3357
• If you do not respond to the RFI, you may lose the right to appeal your assessment

Questions

• Contact Wild Rose Assessment Services 403 343 3357

Do I have to respond to an RFI?

• RFIs are required by legislation, see section 294 (1), 295 (1), and 295 (4) of the Municipal Government Act
• Your information is kept confidential, according to the Freedom of Information & Protection of Privacy (FOIP) Act

Why do we do RFIs?

• RFIs help us choose between the Cost or Income approach to calculate the property’s market value
• Cost Approach
  • Adds vacant land value to a building's depreciated replacement cost new
  • Depreciation usually comes in the form of physical aging
  • Cost-based assessments are then measured annually to sales data.
    • This analysis is the basis of additional, larger in scope, market-based adjustments
    • With the application of sales analysis, this approach is often called the Market Modified Cost Approach
  • The Cost Approach is applicable to mostly to owner occupied property
  • Most property is owner occupied with the Cost method being most suitable

• Income Approach

• • Combined land/building value typically based on landlord revenue
  • Landlord revenue is often in the form of:
    • Multi-tenant leasing, or
    • Long-term leasing to a single tenant
  • Less commonly, the Income method is required when the market value of a property is indivisibly linked to its business performance:
    • Purpose-built property has no ready alternative use
    • Requires profitable business to create market value in real estate
    • Examples include: hospitality of all types, manufactured home communities and for-profit golf courses or continuing care homes