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Banff waives off-site levies for school

Banff politicians have waived hefty off-site levies for the construction of Banff’s new $8.5 million elementary school. At a meeting on Monday (Jan.
An image of the new Banff Elementary School proposed by Canadian Rockies Public Schools.
An image of the new Banff Elementary School proposed by Canadian Rockies Public Schools.

Banff politicians have waived hefty off-site levies for the construction of Banff’s new $8.5 million elementary school.

At a meeting on Monday (Jan. 25), council decided Canadian Rockies Public Schools (CRPS) does not have to pay $105,747 in off-site levies, a cost the school board argued would be extremely challenging to absorb within the project which is already $300,000 over budget.

Mayor Karen Sorensen said she agreed with CRPS that there is no finer public use development than a new elementary school for the community, a facility that will be used by a variety of Banff organizations for recreation and education for many years.

“It wasn’t all that many years ago that Banff was at great risk of losing a school, and potentially the elementary school,” said Sorensen.

“I don’t think the community would allow that to happen and would do anything to prevent that –it makes sense we waive these fees.”

Banff’s off-site levies bylaw includes a clause that allows council to exempt or defer the collection of off-site levies when the lands to be developed are owned by a public service body or when used for public services purposes.

Off-site levies provide a mechanism for municipalities to recover capital costs incurred for infrastructure improvements required for new development and growth.

The $8.5 million originally allocated by the provincial government was for a school modernization, but the province later agreed to a school replacement and expansion – but said there would be no extra money at this time.

Council was told the project is currently about $300,000 over budget, with strict requirements under the Town of Banff’s design guidelines accounting for about $240,000 of that.

“We recognize that institutional buildings in Banff are required to set a high standard for design and construction, which most schools in Alberta don’t face,” wrote CRPS chair Carol Picard in a letter to council.

“The cost of these requirements amount to roughly $240,000 worth of exterior cladding upgrades and additional landscaping which, while contributing towards a better development, simply aren’t in Alberta Education protocols for new school construction.”

Picard also said within the approved budget for phase one of the development they are facing many extra costs that pertain to phase two, noting boiler and ventilation systems have to be sized and installed in phase one to handle the extra floor space for phase two,

She also said the Town of Banff is a partner in the project, with an investment of $890,000 to create new space for municipal programs that are closely linked to the elementary school population.

“It could be perceived that the Town is now taxing itself,” she wrote.

Councillor Ted Christensen was the only councillor who did not support waiving the levies.

“I find this is more of new build than a rebuild, and I think the province should recognize that aspect and giddy up,” he said.


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