Although council was largely not in favour of forgiving taxes on the life lease units at the new Mountain View Seniors' Housing facility, officials discussed alternative solutions to support the modern campus of care.
The board that runs Mountain View Seniors' Housing, a non-profit organization, had raised the request to “enable the senior residents of these life lease properties to enjoy this new home before assessment and taxation starts,” reads a letter sent to council. The organization also stated it would pay taxes on any assessable portions of its properties, including the life lease units, in 2017 and beyond.
To start the conversation on the subject, Coun. Cheri Funke put on the table during the Aug. 29 meeting a recommended motion for the Town of Sundre council to continue to support charging taxes on the life lease units at the Sundre seniors' supportive living facility for 2016.
Mayor Terry Leslie spoke against the recommended motion and asked council to consider an alternative.
“We talk often about supporting economic development and potentially some incentives for developers. This is a non-profit organization,” he said.
Council could choose to forgive the taxes on the life lease units just for this year and to replenish the shortfall in taxes paid to the town by transferring funds from a Mountain View Seniors' Housing reserve. Alternatively, council could instead decide to charge the taxes and simply donate back to the organization, which is still raising funds to the tune of $1 million for furniture and additional equipment, about $10,000 — roughly the amount of tax in question, he said.
“I offer that as I would like to oppose this particular motion and make a different motion to support (MVSH) through donation and get away from the tax side of things.”
Funke contested that the organization is a developer.
“I understand the incentives, but how are we going to cover that when more developers come and ask us to forgive theirs? When you buy a house, you have to pay a portion of the property tax — that's just life. That's why I'm in favour of the motion,” said the councillor.
But Mountain View Seniors' Housing is non-profit, the mayor underscored, adding that taxes charged to the organization can potentially end up being passed along to the facility's residents who bought life lease units.
Coun. Myron Thompson expressed a favourable opinion towards incentives.
“We need to recognize incentives can be very beneficial to us. I don't think it hurts us one little stinking bit to give tax incentives of this nature to more people, even other developers when they come. It is not a financial disaster to do that. In fact, in the long run, it can work out for the best,” he said, expressing his support for the mayor's position in not supporting the motion.
Coun. Chris Vardas said apples were being compared to oranges, and that for example condo developers are for-profit. The councillor was not in support of forgiving taxes on the life lease units, but seemed receptive to the mayor's alternative suggestion.
“I don't mind the idea to look at making a donation from funds in reserves,” he said.
Coun. Verna McFadden inquired about the reserve itself — what plans are in place for it as well as where the funds came from.
That reserved money is what remains from the sale of the property to Mountain View Seniors' Housing for the new campus of care, said Angie Lucas, acting administrator as well as director of planning and operations.
“We have been asked by some adjacent neighbours and other people in the area if we can finalize the landscaping and the trail system in that area, which is not on the Mountain View Seniors' Housing site, it is around the adjacent part of it on town-owned property,” she told council.
“It's been brought to my attention that some seniors are starting to use scooters in the community. We need to take this accessibility very seriously — they need to have the right materials to manoeuvre along,” whether they are walking or using scooters, she said, adding the peace officer has pointed out scooters cannot, as per the Traffic Safety Act, be operated on roads.
“So we're going to use some of that money to make sure the landscaping and the trail system is correct in that area.”
Such a transportation network for seniors will allow them freedom of movement without potentially putting them in harm's way, but it “will not be cheap,” she said.
Council defeated Funke's motion to charge Mountain View Seniors' Housing taxes on its life lease units for 2016.
But following further discussion, a growing consensus emerged among council to charge the taxes after all and to instead make a donation.
So council ended up directing administrative staff to bring back a new request for decision to rescind the defeated motion and to propose a new motion to tax Mountain View Seniors' Housing while finding a way to donate back to the non-profit organization.
