Article content

Edmonton homeowners face an 8.7-per-cent education tax increase this year, a piece of provincial bad news that will be sent to each property owner on City of Edmonton letterhead.

“It’s extremely irritating for every mayor and councillor in this province,” said Mayor Don Iveson, taking a break Tuesday from a final budget session containing several pieces of bad news. “Every year this happens, it’s frustrating for the City of Edmonton to be the bearer of that bad news. … We worked very hard to bring our tax increase down from where we started.”

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or 'Extremely irritating' 8.7-per-cent education tax increase hits Edmonton homeowners Back to video

Alberta raises 32 per cent of its education budget from a levy charged to each property owner. That levy is collected by municipalities.

This year’s education tax increase means the typical Edmonton homeowner with a house assessed at $401,000 will pay about $75 more next year based on initial calculations. It’s their share of a $2.4-billion provincewide education levy that grew by $153 million in Thursday’s provincial budget.