It’s a $17 million debate that Mayor Peter Kirylchuk says Lac La Biche County residents can’t afford to lose.
And yesterday (Monday), that debate continued as Lac La Biche County councillors met for the third time in as many months with Alberta Finance Minister Lloyd Snelgrove and area MLA Ray Danyluk about the tax assessment within the Primrose Air Weapons Range.
Falling within the jurisdiction of Lac La Biche County, the air weapons range contains $1.43 billion in tax assessment translating into $17 million of revenue for the county — or half of the municipality’s total tax revenue. But now, officials with the City of Cold Lake are ramping up a decade-old desire to take those dollars to help their cash-strapped community get back on track.
At Monday’s meeting with the ministers in St. Paul, several councillors from Lac La Biche County again stressed the need to keep the assessment in the municipality.
“We had the opportunity to stress to the ministers that Lac La Biche County needs its assessment in order for us to grow and develop for the future,” said Kirylchuk.
Losing that kind of assessment base would cripple the community, said the mayor.
“You take that away from us and we are done. We can’t function,” he said, explaining that the assessment numbers also relate to grant dollars received by the county as well as the borrowing limits of the municipality.
With the loss or reduction of assessment in the air weapons range, the current government commitment of $40 million into the county’s Municipal Sustainability Initiative could be compromised.
“The MSI is based on population, assessment and kilometres of road within a municipality,” said the mayor unable to downplay the damage any change in funding would do.
“We can’t receive any less. We have a 10-year capital plan. We have a $50 million Bold Center … all that has been planned with the assessment we have. As soon as you take even some of that away, we lose.”
Pleading their case again to the ministers at Monday’s meeting, Kirylchuk believes may produce eventual inroads to a solution.
“What Minister Snelgrove told us is he would like a process that would make sense to do what is necessary to make all communities involved more sustainable,” said the mayor.
When asked if the minister gave any specific hints as to what that process would be, Kirylchuk said no.
“At least he’s interested in continuing discussions,” he said, adding the minister was planning to issue a news release about the issue in the near future.
With three private meetings behind them, the mayor now says his council will contemplate opening the issue up to the public.
“I think there’s always a time and a place for public input and support, absolutely,” he said, adding that at next week’s council meeting there will be discussion on creating a strategy to involve the public.
When asked why public input has not been sought to this point, the mayor said his council preferred to first “get a handle on where this was going.”
Public input
must happen now
While holding back from saying it’s too little, too late, Lac La Biche and District Chamber of Commerce President Brian Stratichuk says public input should have been sought months ago.
“It’s three months after the fact. We needed some opportunity to have some discussion at a community level,” he said, calling council’s lack of openness “a strategic mistake.”
Representing a business community that may be relied on to make up any tax revenues lost if the weapons range assessment is removed, Stratichuk said there is a lot at stake for area residents — and not a lot of information passed their way.
“We feel we have been left out of the loop.”
Chamber officials are now planning a community meeting with council members to discuss the issue.