Council approves tax over levy
Municipal council passed the third and final reading of a bylaw that will increase property taxes this year after administration revealed the municipality could face a $50,000 budget shortfall.
The bylaw will increase property taxes by about $14 for a residential property assessed at $750,000. For a commercial property assessed at $1 million the tax over levy will increase property taxes by about $96 this year.
The issue was first brought up in May after Natasha Malenchak, the director of finance, revealed four commercial properties appealed their tax assessment. According to Malenchak, the four commercial properties were collectively assessed聽at over $45 million and are appealing $4.1 million of their assessed values, which takes into account聽how much each business earns.
If the appeals are successful the town could face a $50,000 shortfall in lost tax revenue, however the new bylaw will now cover that potential loss, shoring up the town鈥檚 bottom line.
According to the bylaw, if some of the appeals are not successful any left over money that is not used to cover the loss in revenue will instead be used to off set taxes next year.
Conference aimed at small business opportunities
The Alberta Chamber of Commerce is hosting a "Tools, Trends and Strategies" conference at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, June 22. The daylong conference will be an opportunity to provide small businesses with some professional development, networking and highlighting opportunities throughout the province.
All guests are welcome to participate in a roundtable discussion aimed to better understand the current needs of Alberta businesses.
Participants will also hear presentations on digital marketing and the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) will share information pertaining to a diversification study it produced in 2015.
The event is free and will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. For full details and to register for the event visit the Alberta Chamber of Commerce events page at www.abchamber.ca.
Jasper to host Oilers prospect camp
Jasper will once again play host to the Edmonton Oilers prospect camp this summer.
The future NHLers will be in town from July 3 to July 7 hoping to earn a spot at the Oilers training camp in September.
The players will be on the ice fine-tuning their skills each morning at the Jasper Activity Centre. Practices are free to attend.
On July 6, the team will host the annual Billy Moore鈥檚 Cup, an offensive filled 4-on-4 inner-squad game, that allows players to showcase their skills. Tickets for the game are $10 and can be purchased at the door or in advance.
While the team is in town, they will also get a chance to hit a few golf balls at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge. For those interested in the chance to play with some of the team鈥檚 players, coaches or management contact Doug McPhee at [email protected].
A full schedule of events, as well as a roster and player profiles will be published a few weeks prior to the camp.
