All property owners in Corman Park will be dealt a new $235 base tax per parcel of land in addition to a mill rate of 4.78.

Reeve Joe Hargrave insists that the tax is a service fee for the grading, plowing, and overall maintenance of roads.

“The roads go past everybody’s house, everybody’s land, and the $235 is a way to spread the cost of the roads, and the cost of the maintenance of the roads equally across the full RM,” he explains. “There are some parcels of land out there that pay maybe $5000 a year, and some parcels where they pay $50 a year. Well, this just spreads it out.” 

However, the RM’s 2025 budget currently includes a $3.4 million shortfall. At the April 8th Committee meeting, Administration recommended this base tax be added to partially address the deficiency. The remaining gap would be filled via a $1.7 million debenture.

Despite callers to the CJWW newsroom saying there was no consultation about the change, Hargrave says council has been very transparent about the new tax. 

“The agenda was on our website well ahead of time. The council meeting where it was actually approved is open to the public and it is announced well ahead of time when the meetings are, so public always welcome to come.” 

Councilors passed both the first and second reading of the bylaw during an April 29th council meeting, and the third reading was passed during a special council meeting on May 8th. 

He says the majority of chatter amongst residents is positive, but there have been some concerns, as “you can’t please everybody.”