OLDS — Councillors are expected to learn this week what the cost would be to the town if it waived development permit fees.
Coun. Heather Ryan had made that suggestion a few weeks ago as a way to spur business in the community.
During council’s Jan. 25 meeting, Ryan asked finance director Sheena Linderman how that research was going.
Linderman said she has indeed compiled some figures and planned to provide them during council’s policies and priorities meeting on Feb. 1.
Ryan suggested waiving business development fees during council’s Jan. 11 meeting, saying she’d heard on the radio that another community was doing that.
At that time, chief administrative officer Michael Merritt said administrative staff would look into that idea, but warned it could be costly, and council has already set its budget.
Merritt noted council did waive 2021 business licence fees as a way to support and jump-start local businesses.
He said the impact of that decision is easier to calculate because staff have a good idea of how many businesses there are in town, whereas trying to anticipate businesses that might want to start up in the community would be “a guesstimate.”
