Overview
The education property tax provides Alberta's education system with a stable and sustainable source of revenue. The tax supports all public and separate school students and helps pay for basic instruction costs, including teacher salaries, textbooks and other classroom resources.
Funding to the Kindergarten to Grade 12 education system comes from 2 revenue sources:
- general provincial revenues
- education property taxes
Pooling the education property tax in the Alberta School Foundation Fund (ASFF) ensures that students receive a quality education no matter where they live.
All property owners pay the education property tax (with some exceptions, such as non-profit organizations and seniors' lodge facilities). People who rent or lease property may also contribute indirectly through their monthly rent or lease payments. As the education system benefits everyone, people without children in school also pay it.
For more details, read the Education Property Tax: Facts and Information brochure.
How it is calculated
Every year the province calculates, based on assessment value, the amount each municipality must contribute towards the public education system.
Your share of the education property tax payment is based on the assessment value of your property and the local education property tax rate.
Mill rate
Municipal Affairs establishes the provincial mill rate used to determine each municipality's share of the provincial education tax.
For 2024-25, education property tax rates will be frozen at the same rates as last year. While rates will be frozen, strong growth in property values and increased development mean that education property tax revenue is expected to grow by $229 million in 2024-25.
This revenue increase will help mitigate the cost pressures of rising enrolment in our schools and bring the proportion of education operating costs funded by the education property tax closer to historical levels, almost 30 per cent.
The provincial equalized assessment base used to determine education property taxes this year reflects 2022 property values. In 2024, municipalities will continue to be billed at a rate of $2.56 per $1,000 of their total residential/farmland equalized assessment value.
The non-residential rate will be set at $3.76 per $1,000 of equalized assessment value, the same rate as last year.
Individual properties are taxed based on the local education property tax rate set by the municipality. This is applied to the taxable assessment value determined by the municipality.
Education requisitions
Collection and distribution
Municipalities collect the education property tax from all property owners in Alberta. The money collected through this tax is pooled into the ASFF and then distributed to public education system school boards on an equal per-student rate.
Opted-out school boards
All separate school boards in the province have opted-out of the ASFF. This means they collect education property tax money directly from the municipalities.
Any difference between what an opted-out board collects and what it is entitled to receive is adjusted so there is no financial gain to opt out of the ASFF.
Separate school jurisdictions
The Constitution of Canada guarantees Protestant and Roman Catholic citizens' minority rights to a separate education system. In communities where there are separate school jurisdictions, property owners must declare support for one school jurisdiction or another to determine where education property tax dollars should be directed.
School support notices – Declarations of faith
- Form 6A – Roman Catholic Individual
- Form 6B – Protestant Individual
- Form 6C – Roman Catholic Corporations and Cooperatives
- Form 6D – Protestant Corporations and Cooperatives
- School Support Declaration Form Fact Sheet
Private schools
Under provincial law, government can only use money collected through the education property tax to fund the public education system, which includes public and separate schools. Private school funding comes from 3 sources:
- provincial general revenues
- tuition or instruction fees paid by parents
- private fundraising
Municipal inquiries
Contact your municipality regarding:
- the assessed value of your property
- market value assessments
- declaration of school board support
- monthly tax instalment plans
Contact
Connect with the Government of Alberta Education Property Tax Line:
Phone: 780-422-7125
Toll free: 310-0000 before the phone number (in Alberta)
Email: [email protected]