The municipality has deferred collection of property tax payments from the Jasper Legion, while it investigates whether or not the struggling non-profit organization is eligible for municipal tax exemption.
The decision was made by council on July 21, nearly a year after the legion first approached the municipality to request tax relief.
Prior to the vote, Mayor Richard Ireland acknowledged the legion’s recent financial struggles and expressed a desire to assist the organization while the municipality seeks further information from the provincial government.
“If the legion is in imminent danger of a collapse over this issue, then I support deferring the collection of the current taxes,” he said. “That doesn’t waive the tax, it doesn’t change anything, it just simply defers it.
“If they don’t have that bill then presumably that takes some of the stress off and it also gives us time to get other answers.”
Currently the legion pays commercial taxes on a third of its property, accounting for an annual tax bill of about $6,800. The remaining two-thirds of the building—the portion where École Desrochers used to be—is zoned institutional, exempting it from municipal taxes.
The legion’s request for tax exemption came shortly after École Desrochers moved out of the building and into the Jasper Joint School Facility. That move has resulted in a significant loss of revenue for the legion, as it continues to pay for the building’s utilities and upkeep while no longer collecting rent.
The legion board has looked for a new tenant, but has run into numerous problems because of the building’s institutional zoning, which limits what the space can be used for.
Grande Prairie Regional College (GPRC) has shown interest in using it as a culinary institute, but hasn’t yet made a commitment.
Ken Kuzminski, president of the Jasper Legion, told council earlier this month that, if the legion doesn’t receive assistance in some way, it will likely have to close its doors before it even has a chance to receive confirmation from GPRC.
The trouble is, although the request for tax exemption is seemingly straight forward, the legislation is actually quite complicated. The Municipal Government Act says Royal Canadian Legions are exempt from municipal property taxes, but it also says that exemption is null and void if the organization has a liquor license, which the Jasper Legion does. There is also additional legislation, referring to the building’s primary use, that complicates the matter even further.
Ireland expressed concern over the lack of clarity in the legislation and suggested its outside of council’s purview to interpret it.
“I continue to be uncomfortable with the notion that council should be interpreting provincial legislation. We have to apply it, but I’m not sure if we’re free to interpret it,” he said.
It’s with that in mind that council asked administration to seek out further information from the provincial government.
That information will help council to make an informed decision, said Ireland.
As well as tax exemption, the legion is also requesting the non-profit rate for garbage collection.
Council again requested more information, including the rate at which garbage collection is billed and how the legion’s usage compares to other commercial and non-profit users.
“We recognize that as a municipality we’re not heavily burdened by their garbage,” said Ireland, “but otherwise we try and approach utilities on a user basis.”
Council will now wait for administration to compile its reports. Once they are presented, council will make decisions on whether or not to provide the legion tax relief or grant it the non-profit rate for garbage fees.
In the meantime, the organization’s tax bills will be deferred.
Following council’s unanimous support of tax deferral, Coun. Rico Damota expressed his discomfort with the public perception that it’s up to council whether the legion lives or dies.
“Through the years the struggle has become quite evident [for the legion] and I’m not sure of the sustainability of the club to continue, and I don’t know if it was intentional, and I don’t think it was, but we’ve almost been put in the position that everything relies on us now and that’s not really the case,” he said.
“Sometimes I’m uncomfortable being pinned and [this has] made it look like I have to decide whether or not the legion is going to survive.
“At least these steps show that we’re trying to do what we can within our abilities.”
Nicole Veerman
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