Neerlandia Sports Committee gets tax break

BARRHEAD - The Neerlandia Sports Committee will not have to pay municipal property taxes for the next three years.

County of Barrhead councillors voted to grant the sports committee's request that three properties be exempt from municipal property taxes during their May 21 meeting.

The sports committee is a not-for-profit organization based in Neerlandia that organizes events in the hamlet to promote healthy, active lifestyles and foster community spirit.

County manager Debbie Oyarzun said that in 2018, council first granted tax exemption for the properties across from Neerlandia Public Christian School in the hamlet, which were given to them by the Neerlandia Co-op after they completed their new store on Township Road 651. After that, they granted the exemption annually. However, the municipality can grant the option for up to three years, in which an organization can then reapply.

She added that following a review by a committee of MLAs in 1997, the province established a set of principles that it used to draft the Community Organization Property Tax Exemption Regulation (COPTER) along with provisions under the Municipal Government Act (MGA) to help guide municipalities when considering granting municipal property tax exemptions to community not-for-profit organizations.

Under COPTER, Oyarzun said municipalities could grant property tax exemption under the following circumstances:

• Property must be owned, leased, and operated by a non-profit organization and used at least 60 per cent of the time for a charitable or benevolent purpose that benefits the general public in the community it is used in.
• The property must be unrestricted a minimum 70 per cent of the time that it is used.
• Resources must be devoted chiefly to its charitable or benevolent purposes and cannot be restricted for any reason.

She added that the sports committee checks all the right boxes.

"They could also have applied under the 'sports or recreation facility' and qualified for tax exemption as they check all the boxes there," Oyarzun said.

Coun. Walter Preugschas asked why the sports committee needed to apply for the exemption when community halls are automatically granted the exemption.

Oyarzun agreed that it could be confusing, and although community halls are included in the same COPTER legislation, the process they go through to get their tax exemption process is different.

Presently, the sports committee has constructed an outdoor ice rink on the properties, but its long-term goal is to build an indoor rink along with a multi-use community hall.

Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com