BARRHEAD - County of Barrhead councillors unanimously turned down a request from the Blue Heron Support Services Association for a tax exemption on a rural residence, which was purchased by the non-profit organization to provide “stabilized, long-term affordable housing” for a single client.
However, councillors also informed the two representatives of Blue Heron who attended the Feb. 18 county council meeting — executive director Diane Magill and board member Pia Greig — that they were considering the creation of a grant program that would provide money to community organizations for situations like this one.
The county originally received the application for the property tax exemption on Nov. 29, 2019, according to information provided to council. The exemption was for a home purchased by Blue Heron specifically to house an individual who is supported by the organization.
“We ... recognize that it might not fit the typical outline within the Municipal Properties Exemption, but we wanted to go forward with the request anyway,” said Magill.
She said the needs of the individual in question are such that he needs to live out of town and by himself. When a house came up for sale that was a good price, they decided to purchase it.
Magill indicated he was paying an extremely high rent for his previous residence, which was also infested with mice and had mold issues.
“This person has had many years of unstable housing, and by providing this opportunity, we will hopefully help to stabilize his life,” she said.
Magill said Blue Heron owns three properties within the Town of Barrhead that they rent out to clients. She confirmed that the organization receives tax exemptions for the properties in Barrhead.
When asked if the residences were purchased with government grants, Magill said they were all purchased with fundraised dollars, adding that they receive no grants from the province to provide housing.
Reeve Doug Drozd asked whether or not it would make more sense to house the individual with someone else to save on costs.
“This particular individual, at this time in his life, needs to be living alone. In the future, we hope that he’ll find the space for another person, another community member that can live with him,” Magill replied.
While he will be paying rent to Blue Heron out of the money he receives under the Assured In-come for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) program, the remaining costs of housing this individual will be subsidized through fundraising dollars.
Coun. Marvin Schatz asked what would happen if the individual suddenly moved away after five years. In response, Magill indicated they would rent out the home to someone else or sell it if they had no further need for it.
Drozd then pointed out that in recent years, a number of energy companies have approached the county asking for tax forgiveness. Some of them are making payments but others have ceased operations entirely.
“It’s blown a hole in our revenue … in the last couple of years,” he said. “We’re in a pretty tight situation as it is.”
The problem was that the rental property in question was not eligible for a tax exemption under the Municipal Government Act (MGA) and the Community Organization Property Tax Exemption Regulation.
While the county could still grant the request, Drozd said he was concerned that if they granted this exemption to Blue Heron, other organizations might make a similar request, as well as individuals who are struggling to make ends meet.
“There are a lot of struggling organizations and struggling individuals … that are making those payments on their own. It’s tough and it continues to be tough in this economy,” he said.
Coun. Darrell Troock said he agreed with Drozd, adding that he was afraid of setting a precedent despite being “really torn” over the request.
However, he suggested that the county has budget deliberations coming up and one of the items they would be discussing was the establishment of a process where community organizations can apply for grants.
“We may be able to look at another way of helping,” he said.
Ultimately, councillors told Magill and Greig that they would get back to Blue Heron if it met the criteria for assistance under any new community grant program created by council.
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