Idle Land Taxation and Disincentives

Vacant or idle properties contribute to housing availability and affordability challenges by alienating land that could otherwise be used for housing and artificially inflating land values. Other municipalities are exploring and implementing various instruments to disincentivize vacant or idle residential properties. This initiative was aimed at determining what taxation or other measures Council could consider to encourage better use of vacant properties in Carmacks.

To date, the following tasks have been completed:

o    February 2024 - Research was undertaken into other jurisdictions and recommendations provided to Council. See report here.

o    March 2024 - Council increased tax rates on vacant/idle properties as well as the minimum tax rate. See the bylaw here.

 

While this initiative is complete, the Village is continuing to monitor and analyze the impacts of the first tax hike in preparation for potential future increases.