WESTLOCK – On heels of similar legislation recently passed by their neighbours, Westlock County administration is working on a new municipal tax incentive bylaw “to encourage growth and revitalization specifically for non-residential developments” with a draft expected back soon.
At their July 18 committee of the whole meeting, councillors voted 6-0 to have admin present a draft bylaw for review at their Aug. 15 meeting with Coun. Jared Stitsen calling the idea “great” and “definitely something we need to look at.”
“I think we’re on the right track here, but we need to be careful,” added Coun. Stuart Fox-Robinson. “But this is something that we need to do.”
CAO Tony Kulbisky told councillors that many municipalities have enacted similar legislation following the passage of Bill 7, the Municipal Government (Property Tax Incentives) Amendment Act, back in 2019 — specifically, Section 364.2 allows municipalities to grant full, or partial, tax exemptions and tax deferrals to non-residential properties.
Noting the Town of Westlock’s passage of a non-residential property tax incentive bylaw July 10, Kulbisky wanted to make sure councillors were on board with the idea and said they need to set the criteria for an exemption and establish a process for applications. Kulbisky also said they’ll limit for how many years an exemption could be provided so that it’s “realistic and can be monitored easily” along with crafting a process for a review of their decisions.
Kulbisky called tax incentive bylaws “great ways” to incentivize growth but cautioned they must be “very careful that it’s not a race to bottom, either.”
“We have to be very mindful of what we’re going to do and what qualifies for a non-residential development. If we’re trying to attract a certain kind of development, sometimes it would make sense to offer a bit of package,” he noted.
And as the county is a member of the regional economic development committee that includes the town and Village of Clyde, Kulbisky’s suggestion was to “closely mimic what the Town of Westlock is offering.” The town’s bylaw allows for property tax exemptions for three years on a tiered scale — projects with an assessment between $50,000 and $1,000,000 get a 75 per cent tax reduction in the first year, 50 per cent in the second and 25 per cent the third. For projects over $1,000,000, the owner gets 100 per cent tax relief in the first year, 75 per cent in the second and 50 per cent in the third.
In a follow-up interview July 20, Kulbisky said they’ll try to stay close to what the town is offering because if the municipalities end up competing for development, that’s “not helpful if we want regional growth to occur.”
“If we’re hunting as a pack and we’re trying to attract stuff to the region, then we shouldn’t be that far apart,” said Kulbisky. “We don’t want to be at odds and need to be in alignment. If a huge plant located in the county, it’s going to have residential impacts for both of us and they’re going to need to go shopping somewhere. It’s regionally beneficial.”
