The City of Estevan鈥檚 standing improved slightly in the 10th annual property tax gap survey, which was released on Wednesday by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business' Saskatchewan branch.
Estevan ranked 13th out of the 15 Saskatchewan cities with a municipal property tax gap of 3.09. Data was based on 2016 figures. The Energy City was 14th in 2015 with a gap of 3.26.
The 5.21 per cent improvement from 2015 to 2016 was the second-best in the province.
The tax gap measures the ratio of commercial and residential property tax bills for properties assessed at a value of $200,000.
In Estevan鈥檚 case, the average commercial property paid $3,918 in municipal property taxes for every $200,000 in assessment, which ranked Estevan 10th out of the 15 Saskatchewan cities.
The provincial average for commercial municipal property taxes was $3,536 for every $200,000 in assessed value.
Residential property owners in Estevan paid $1,267 in municipal property taxes for every $200,000 in assessed value, which left Estevan as the fourth-lowest in the province in 2016.
The provincial average for residential property taxes was $1,476 per $200,000 in assessed value.
The average municipal property tax gap for Saskatchewan cities was 2.38.
As for total property taxes, including taxes paid to school divisions, Estevan remained in 13th for the property tax gap at 2.83. Commercial property owners paid $5,574 in taxes for every $200,000 in assessment, while residential property owners paid $1,971.
鈥淲hile some cities are doing a better job than others in making municipal property taxes fairer for small businesses, there is still more work to be done,鈥� said Jennifer Henshaw, CFIB鈥檚 senior policy analyst for Saskatchewan and co-author of the report. 鈥淭his report should be required reading for all municipal leaders as they determine their 2018 operating budgets in the coming weeks.鈥漈he report also looks at the 31 rural municipalities with a population of more than 1,000 people, including the RM of Estevan.
The Rural Municipality of Estevan ranked 12th with a gap of 1.79 for the municipal share of property taxes, with commercial property owners paying $1,800 for $200,000 in assessed property value, and residential owners paying $1,008 for every $200,000 in 2016.
The RM also ranked 12th in total assessed value with a property tax gap of 2.02. Commercial property owners paid $3,456 for every $200,000 in assessed value, while residential property owners paid $1,712.
Next week鈥檚 edition of the Mercury will have more on this story.
