Many Prince Edward Islanders will once again not see an increase in the provincial portion of their property tax next year — but the province is going about it in a different way this time.
For the past two years, as property assessments have gone up, the province has provided a subsidy equal to the amount of the property tax increase, effectively freezing what Islanders were paying.
For the coming year, the province has amended the Real Property Tax Act to again freeze provincial property taxes, but not by using a subsidy.
The amendments, announced in a provincial news release Friday, give the cabinet the power to set the value of a tax credit for owner-occupied properties.
With the new credit, homeowners will pay their 2024 property taxes as though their houses were still assessed at the value they had on Dec. 31, 2020.
