The Town of Innisfail is officially in the fight to have the NDP government reinstate a provincewide $15-million grant in lieu of taxes for municipal social housing that will reportedly be out of the provincial budget on April 14.
At council's regular meeting on March 28, an administration report stated the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) is asking municipalities to join its efforts to force the province to reinstate the grant, which was also cut in 2015 by the NDP government. Council unanimously approved a recommendation from administration to participate in AUMA's advocacy efforts.
Town officials have been upset for more than a month since learning the province won't be distributing the grant to municipalities for the second year in a row. Innisfail is set to lose about $50,000 the municipality needs for the taxes on 48 assisted living units at Dodds Lake Manor and Poplar Grove Court, as well as an additional 13 social housing duplex units scattered throughout the community. All 61 of these units are owned by the provincial government. The 48 at Dodds Lake Manor and Popular Grove Court are managed by Parkland Foundation.
The $50,000 in lost money is 67 per cent of one per cent of the mill rate for Innisfail taxpayers, funds which the town has counted on, especially amidst this year's ongoing deep recession.
For larger Alberta communities, the financial impact is far greater with Edmonton and Calgary out about $6 million each and the City of Red Deer losing about $500,000.
“The province's decision is particularly disappointing given AUMA's extensive advocacy through our news release following Budget 2015 and our numerous meetings and correspondence with the ministry over the fall and winter period,” said Sue Bohaichuk, chief executive office for AUMA in an email sent to the town.
She added in her email that many members of the Mayors' Caucus that attended a meeting last month in Edmonton have “expressed frustration” with Lori Sigurdson, the provincial minister of seniors and housing, over the government's decision to not reinstate the grant.
Mayor Brian Spiller, who attended the Mayors' Caucus conference, said the issue was a priority for those who came to Edmonton, as well as for elected officials who came to a recent Central Alberta mayors' meeting.
“Up in Edmonton towns like Cold Lake were very disturbed with this, because if we allow the province to do this the federal government will be next. The federal government has a lot of buildings and an Air Force base in Cold Lake,” said Spiller when the issue was brought up at council, and emphasizing that while Innisfail does not have federal buildings, its immediate neighbours do. “Maybe Red Deer County with the penitentiary south of town could be a large tax revenue they could be missing out on if the federal government tries to do the same thing the province is trying.”
He said the precedent could even spread to school boards and hospitals seizing an opportunity to download owed taxes to the municipalities. “Which will really erode our tax base,” said the mayor. “So for no other reason but to draw a line in the sand and to not allow them to do it, we have to keep fighting.”
The mayor added the province should not be left off the hook for paying its share of taxes, especially when the town is providing many services for properties that are under provincial jurisdiction, such as the facilities for seniors.
“We plow the roads, have the water, sewer, the fire (department) police department, and if they have a building in our town they should be paying their fair share too,” said Spiller.
Mayor Brian Spiller
"If we allow the province to do this the federal government might start doing it, as well as the school boards and hospitals, which will really erode our tax base."
