BANFF – A municipal fund used to help preserve Banff’s heritage buildings is at a 10-year low.
A report will come to council next week concerning the fund, which has a current balance of $90,700, and Councillor Chip Olver plans to encourage her colleagues to revisit how the reserve is funded to make it financially sustainable.
She said consideration could be given to setting aside a larger annual contribution than the current $15,000, or a per capita figure similar to the arts reserve, or a percentage of the annual operating budget, to name a few ideas.
“I think it’s time to refurbish the heritage fund,” said Olver, who is council’s alternate member of Banff Heritage Corporation. “There really isn’t enough money to protect a property, to support someone in upgrading and refurbishing their property.”
Currently, Banff’s heritage inventory identifies 181 buildings of historic value to the community, with 85 per cent of those unprotected.
Recent expenditures related to municipal designation of the Old Banff Cemetery, Bow River Bridge and Banff Power Substation have left the heritage reserve at a 10-year low.
Between 2010 and 2018, the heritage reserve fund sat between $130,000 and $150,000. When the fund was first established in 1995, the intention was to increase it to $475,000.
The current policy on heritage properties provides a financial incentive of $25,000 for residential properties considered to have heritage value and $50,000 for commercial/institutional.
Jennifer Laforest, a development planner with the Town of Banff, said the municipality has invested $280,000 in the preservation of 13 properties since incorporation.
She said this translates to an average program cost of about $21,000 per heritage designation and $12,174 per year.
“The average heritage designation has been obtained significantly below the anticipated funding rate, suggesting either a willingness from property owners to protect heritage properties regardless of the funding available, or the inability of property owners to qualify for the full funding amount,” she said. “The expenditures also suggest that heritage designations are becoming less frequent and more expensive to obtain.”
Olver said an official with Whistler Blackcomb told her several years ago that one of Banff’s biggest advantages over Whistler was its heritage properties.
“Our competitors see that as value and I think many residents see value in our heritage,” she said.
