Taxation

Supplementary Assessment 

If you recently bought a new home, you may receive a supplementary assessment/tax bill in November.

Supplementary tax bills were mailed October 25, 2018, but with the disruption at Canada Post, there may be a slight delay in receiving yours. Due date and final complaint date is December 31, 2018. You can check details of your account anytime at cochrane.ca/eServices.

2018 Property Taxes

Residential properties with an average 0.44% decrease in assessed value will have a 3.06% increase in municipal property tax. As assessment values vary between individual properties and between communities, your municipal tax changes may be higher or lower than the average. 

The 2018 municipal residential property tax rate of .00457 on assessed value of $479,300 (average assessment) results in municipal taxes of $2,190 (see chart).

Education requisitions are based on Cochrane's equalized assessment which uses assessment values from two years ago. Education requisitions from the province increased 3% from $13,912,757 to $14,329,928, which is a lower increase than what was experienced in prior years, because growth slowed in Cochrane. Residential growth in 2018 covered the residential education tax increase resulting in a 1.2% decrease in education taxes. With education taxes making up 36% of the property tax bill the total average increase in property taxes is 1.51%

  2018 2017      $ increase % increase
Average single family dwelling assessment:
$479,300, down .44% from 2017		        
Municipal tax levy $2,190 $2,124 $66 3.06%
Education + Rocky View Foundation requisitions $1,232 $1,247 $-15
 -1.20%
Total property tax bill $3,422 $3,371 $51 1.51%

See a sample tax bill

General information

The tax year runs from January to December:

  • Property tax bills will be mailed May 30, 2018; payment is due June 29, 2018.
    Please note: If you own a condominium, you may receive a separate tax bill for your parking stall(s) or storage unit(s).
  • If you do not receive your tax bill by June 15, 2018, request it by email
  • If you would like to make monthly payments instead of one annual payment, please apply to our TIPP Program

The Town of Cochrane collects funds on your annual tax bill for the Rocky View Foundation (to support Big Hill Seniors Lodge in Cochrane) and theAlberta Education Fund.

Property assessment notices are sent to property owners in February each year.

Can I pay my tax bill via a credit card?
No, we can not accept property tax payments on credits cards. Check our Methods of Payment page for all the ways you can pay your property tax bill. 

Mortgage company payments 
If you are paying principal, interest and taxes (PIT) to your mortgage company, you will receive the original tax bill for your records and the mortgage company will receive an invoice for your taxes. Your tax bill will show the name of the company we are invoicing.

If you believe you are paying PIT and the mortgage company name does not appear on the bill, contact your mortgage company immediately.

If a mortgage company is indicated on your bill and this firm is no longer responsible for your tax payments, you are responsible for paying the bill.

Why does my assessment say "improved?" 
Single family homes are described on tax bills as “Res Single Family Improved,” which means your property has an improvement on it from a bare lot  — your house. It does not indicate an improvement to your home from last year; it’s a way to differentiate between properties with buildings and those without buildings. 

Looking for the amount you paid in property tax last year?

It’s here on the Town website!

  1. Go to eServices
  2. If you know your Access Code and Password, select Citizen Self Service Login

Don't know or don’t have an Access Code and Password? 

No problem. You can register and access your information immediately. All you need is your recent Assessment Notice or Tax Bill. 

  1. To register, go to eServices and select Citizen Self Service Register
  2. Enter your Personal Information and identifying data from your latest utility bill or statement for another Town account.
  3. Submit
  4. Complete the information in the Registration Form
  5. Follow the instructions in the email to complete your registration

Note: Keep your Access Code handy. You’ll need it to log in once your registration is complete.

To find your property tax total:

  1. Go to eServices
  2. Select Citizen Self Service Login
  3. Log in to your account
  4. Select Property Tax
  5. Select Transactions to view payments  
  6. Log off

General Information 

The property taxes each resident pays is calculated in proportion to the value of the real estate property they own. Determining the value of a property for taxation purposes is known as assessment. Assessed values are a means of fairly distributing the town tax burden and ensuring that each property owner pays a fair and equitable level of tax. Find out how your property assessment is determined.