ATHABASCA – Town of Athabasca councillors are looking to incentivize local business development and expansion through $250,000 of scaled tax relief.
At council’s Feb. 21 meeting, Coun. Sara Graling spearheaded the conversation and said she was inspired by a bylaw passed in Minburn County that gives enterprises tax breaks for large development projects and identified a few different portions of it that she would like to see in the new bylaw, including “an eligibility for new construction, for refurbishment of an existing non-residential by a set amount, say $250K.”
Council ultimately directed administration to draft a bylaw that would provide tax relief over a three-year period, decreasing by 25 per cent each year, for non-residential entities that increased the assessment value of a property by at least $250,000.
“If we’re going to give them incentives, let’s not give them a few crumbs, let’s give them the whole loaf of bread,” said mayor Rob Balay during discussion around the table that these incentives will help Athabasca attract more business development in the upcoming year.
If a business had added, or created development valued between $250,000 to $999,999, then the tax breaks would be over three years — 75 per cent the first year, 50 per cent the second year, and then 25 per cent in the third and final year. If the valuation is greater than $1,000,000, then the first year would be 100 per cent, followed by 75 per cent and 50 per cent in the second and third years respectively.
Coun. David Pacholok concurred, noting “I would also be willing to go with a three-year term as opposed to longer, and I can see starting out considerable, like 100 per cent, but I don’t want to see 100 for three years, I would like it deescalating to 75 and then 50 (per cent)”
The Minburn County bylaw has a clause about new employees, but multiple councillors objected to including it in Athabasca’s version. One concern, brought up by Coun. Ida Edwards, was that requiring new employees, or employees at all, would discriminate against “mum and pop” shops where the owners are also the primary workers and is one of the reasons that council opted to drop this requirement from the proposed bylaw.
During the Feb. 22 town hall to discuss the upcoming budget, the tax incentives were debuted to the public. One question brought forth was “why does this only apply to non-residential properties.” As it turns out, the answer is rather simple; under the current Municipal Government Act, municipal governments are only able to offer these incentives to non-residential properties. Other programs, including the Community Energy Improvement Program (CEIP) are in place for residential buildings.
