Coaldale town council approves 2020 special tax levy

Funds will be used for building proposed rec centre

By Nikki Jamieson
Sunny South News

Coaldale town council has approved a bylaw that would allow for a special tax levy for the proposed recreation centre in 2020.

The Special Recreation Tax Bylaw 778-C-03-20, approved during their regular May 7 meeting, would allow the Town of Coaldale to apply a special tax levy on each developed residential parcel of land within the municipal boundaries of the town, at a rate of $120 per developed residential parcel of land, or $10 a month, to help fund the construction of the proposed recreations centre in town.

According to the 2020-2024 Capital Plan, the design and construction of a recreation facility within Coaldale has a budgeted cost of $10 million, which will be funded through a $10 million debenture that is serviced by the special tax levy.

The $10,000,000 Alberta Capital Finance Authority (ACFA) debenture has been acquired by the Town of Coaldale on Dec. 16, 2019, at a rate of 2.691 per cent over 25 years. While these debenture funds have largely not been spent, they are currently earning interest at a rate of 2.5 per cent.

“The reason this was done to lock in a lower rate soon, and we can still service the majority of the interest on the loan through our current savings,” said Kyle Beauchamp, director of cooperate services for the town.

Council had previously passed a 2019 Special Tax Bylaw during their April 23, 2019, meeting, which allowed them to place a special tax levy of $120/year per developed residential parcel of land within the town for 2019.

Council unanimously passed all three readings of the bylaw.

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