At the May 21 meeting of the Drumheller Town Council, approval was given to award Knibb Developments Ltd. the contract for the 2013 cast iron water line replacement program in downtown Drumheller.
    This year, the program will replace the aging cast iron lines in the alley behind the Drumheller Legion, north across 2nd Avenue West, and ending next to Riverside Value Drug Mart.
    The alley was identified as a top priority due to numerous breaks in the line over the years.
    However, more work may be added should the opportunity arise.
    “We may extend it or add some pieces that could speed up or make the project easier next year, but until we negotiate with the contractor, we won’t know,” said Allan Kendrick, Director of Infrastructure Services for the Town of Drumheller. “We have a little bit of money left in the budget, so we’ll try to use that to our advantage.”
    The Town had budgeted $620,000 for this year’s program. Knibb Developments Ltd. bid just under half that, at $353,493.
    Knibb Developments Ltd. were contracted two years ago  to replace the water mains in the alley north of 3rd Avenue, between 1st Street West and Centre Street. The project ran over its original completion estimates late into the fall.
    The delay was caused by unexpected lines running through the alley, such as steam lines from the Waldorf, and Knibb Developments Ltd. was also working on other projects in Town at the same time.
    The cast iron water main replacement program was initiated to replace downtown’s ageing water lines.
    “We still have other parts of the line that are getting to an age where they could start leaking,” said Kendrick. “You’re dealing with infrastructure that’s around 40 to 50 years old. Now we are doing the best and using the best products that are available to us.”
    It is expected the program will continue for a couple more years, but though the annual construction disrupts traffic downtown, the benefits outweigh the costs.
    “Once we get through the cast iron project, we’ll go back to an auditor survey for leak detection and then get more proactive on repairs,” said Kendrick. “We’ve increased our flow capacity downtown by increasing the size of the pipe. By upgrading it, we increase flow capacity for fire protection and we’ve achieveg a number of things doing this program.”

    Over the past two weeks, Drumheller residents have received their annual tax assessments in the mail.
     Bill Wulff, Acting Director of Corporate Services for the Town of Drumheller, took some time explain to inSide Drumheller how municipal taxes are calculated and how residents can appeal.
    “We get this often. Someone will come in saying their taxes are too high. We say they can’t appeal their taxes, just their assessment. Then, they say their assessment is fine and they don’t want the value of their house to go down,” said Wulff.
    The only avenue of appeal, for residents who disagree with their taxes, is the market value assessment of their property.
    To determine property taxes, the market value assessment of the property is multiplied by the tax rate, education tax rate, and Senior Foundation requisition rate.
    Tax rates were set earlier this year at 0.0072268 for residential and 0.0115074 for nonresidential. The education tax rate is 0.0027096 for residential and 0.0038132 for nonresidential. The Seniors Foundation requisition is 0.0003953.
    For example, a property assessment of $170,000 would result in property taxes of $1,228.56. However, with the addition of the Education Tax and Seniors Foundation requisition, the total property taxes become $1,756.39.
    For every $1,000 removed from the market value during an appeal, property taxes are reduced by $10.33 for residential and $15.72 for nonresidential.
    During the appeal process, an assessor is brought in to do a thorough inspection of the property to determine it’s market value. Any major construction on the property will affect the market value and, by extension, property taxes.
    “If you have an appeal, the assessor will be visiting your property,” said Wulff. “The assessment is based on the market value of your property, so if you can sell that new garage for $15,000, your assessment will go  up that much.”
    Normally, the market value for a property is determined using a mass appraisal process. Assessors examine property sales in a neighbourhood, then apply the average per cent increase or decrease to the remaining properties.
    “The assessment is really mass appraisal. Instead of having someone come into your house and look at absolutely everything, what happens is, they look at the sales in that neighbourhood. So, if all the houses went up by an average of six per cent, that is applied to every other house in that neighbourhood,” said Wulff. “That’s why there is an appeal process in place.”
    Also, any major construction is considered when determining market value. Assessors visit properties that are granted development permits.
    Overall, residential taxes saw an average increase of $96, with some properties seeing less and others more.
    The increase is largely due to increases in both the Education Tax and Drumheller and District Seniors Foundation requisition, neither of which the Town of Drumheller has any control over.
    Residents wishing to appeal their assessment may do so at Town Hall by filling out an appeal form.