Places of worship in Iqaluit will not have to pay property taxes next year
CBC
Places of worship in Iqaluit will not have to pay property taxes in 2026 — after the city set the annual mill rate at a council meeting on Tuesday. A mill rate is a tax rate that is based on a property’s assessed value. City council unanimously voted in favour of having the mill rate set to zero for churches and other places of worship. In 2022, the City of Iqaluit voted to pass a bylaw that meant religious and non-profit organizations would have to pay property tax on non-residential buildings. Under the bylaw organizations could apply for property tax exemptions. After the bylaw rolled out, there was an outcry from the community, with churches in Iqaluit saying that it would cause a financial strain. A petition was started to repeal the bylaw.
The St. Jude Anglican Church said they are facing an annual insurance bill of $188, 000 and has faced thousands of dollars in arrears for 2023 and 2024 combined, according to the City of Iqaluit documents. Before the council's vote on Tuesday, places of worship were charged under “institutional properties.” Coun. Kyle Sheppard said the decision to have a zero mill rate makes sense for places of worship now. “The fact that they were charged a full institutional rate the same as government establishments. I think was an oversight at the time. The administrative burden that was placed on the city to provide relief after the fact was pretty substantial,” he said, adding that it also placed an administrative and financial burden on the places of worship. Sheppard said that setting the mill rate to zero was factored into budget planning for next year. While the mill rate is set for zero for places of worship in Iqaluit — all the other properties will have their mill rate remain the same next year.
In emailed statements the city said only properties that are used as actual places of worship will not have to pay property tax. Other properties owned by places of worship, like residential or commerical buildings will still have to pay the tax.
The City of Iqaluit is also increasing the amount of property tax exemptions that they can grant annually to organizations by $200,000, for a total of $500,000.
The exemption only applies to certain organizations — those include a non-profit that is either a religious organization, or a society that is doing work the city considers is in its public interests. That could include work to relieve poverty, or operating a shelter to help those in need. Historically the city has never hit the $300,000 limit, but is expected to exceed that level this year, based on applications with the city, with more expected to come in as well.
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