OLDS — Local businesses that have been hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic can now apply for business re-opening grants from the Town of Olds.
It's one of three moves approved by council to help local firms recover from business lost as a result of COVID-19 restrictions.
The other two are the waiving of development permit fees pertaining to residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, and recreational development for the remainder of the year and to eliminate the penalty that currently comes into effect as of July 1 for residential and non-residential property taxes that remain unpaid as of that date. The next date when penalities will begin to be applied for unpaid taxes will now be Sept. 1.
Under the business re-opening grant program, the town will provide up to $500 to eligible businesses located within Olds.
Council approved that plan, drawn up by administrative staff, during its May 25 meeting.
During a presentation to council, finance director Sheena Linderman said the program is basically a revival of a similar one introduced previously.
Linderman noted that respondents to a survey on how best to enable businesses to recover from COVID said the best thing to do would be to provide money directly into their hands.
“This grant was easy to administer, easy to apply for and got money into the hands of business owners quickly," she said.
She said the only requirement for approval would be that the business applying for the grant has a valid business licence.
Coun. Mary Jane Harper expressed support for the program in theory but said some businesses such as personal service firms and Mayfair Cinema have been hit harder than others – forced to shut down longer or completely – and thus should receive money before others that have been able to remain open in some way.
Mayor Mike Muzychka agreed with Harper, adding restaurants and museums to the list.
However, although they sympathized with Harper’s concern, other councillors said the program should remain available to all those with valid business licences. That way they said, it would be simple to administer and to apply for.
Coun. Wanda Blatz and Mary Anne Overwater said they had faith in local business people that only those that truly need help from the program would apply for it.
“The moment you start putting restrictions in, then you’re going to have to basically start checking things through a lot more. Administratively, we would certainly do that if it’s required, but again, the initial thought here was businesses are hurting,” Blatz said.
“The ones that didn’t need it the first time around, I believe they won’t come forward for it. They understand we’re in a financial situation as well,” Overwater said.
Coun. Debbie Bennett said the grant should be universal, like the federal child benefit program.
“Let’s not put more roadblocks in front of the businesses,” she said.
