The 80/20 tax split has been St. Albert's goal for the better part of recent history. Reaching that target, which is thought to be necessary to reduce the burden on residential taxpayers, has so far been impossible and is still a very long-term project, said incumbent Mayor Nolan Crouse.
Crouse said he's hoping to move in the right direction if re-elected but isn't one to manage by numerical targets.
“My philosophy is a little bit less about targeting a number and more about continuous improvement,” he said.
Moving in the right direction requires execution of many smaller tasks, he said. This includes helping developers find clients for their available land, removing red tape for those looking to develop and meeting with landowners to urge them to develop.
“We need to ask the questions, when are you developing? Because often they ask the question, how can you help us develop?” Crouse said.
Crouse's challenger Shelley Biermanski has two priorities to move toward 80/20 if she's elected. Her second priority would be to designate some portion of the annexed land for a light industrial park. Her first priority would be to step up business recruitment.
“I think if we establish a theme for St. Albert and work on recruiting a specific type of business for St. Albert … it would be a strong plan of developing more business in St. Albert,” she said.
She thinks St. Albert is a good place for green-themed businesses. The best way to recruit would be to establish a group comprised of a council member, some existing business owners and residents, she said.
Given the historic struggle St. Albert has faced trying to attract business, the key is to establish an identity for the city and focus on businesses that fit, she said.
“When you're a smaller area, you have to have something special, or be the leader in a type of business for it to grow,” she said.
The St. Albert Chamber of Commerce notes that the city's split mill rate sees St. Albert business provide 16 per cent of the city's total municipal tax revenue, while the total assessed value of business properties is just 11 per cent of the total. The message is that businesses are paying more than their fair share.
Crouse isn't keen to alter the formula in businesses' favour, which would put more emphasis on homeowners.
“We're in the middle of the pack as far as the region is concerned,” he said.
Neither is he willing to push it the other way.
“Our staff would like to push it further, push more taxes onto the non-residential. Personally, it's not on my list for this next term,” Crouse said.
Biermanski said she's received a number of calls from business owners about the subject.
“In a perfect world, residential and business would pay at the same rate, but we're also saving businesses by not charging them actual business tax,” she said.
She'd like to move toward equality but thinks it would be tough to achieve.
“I would just like to make it more fair for [businesses],” she said.
A few years ago the city decided to jumpstart development in North Campbell by servicing and selling the land itself. In the end, it backtracked on the idea, selling the undeveloped land to a private developer instead.
Neither of the mayoral candidates feels comfortable with the city jumping into developing its own land again, even though this could bring about more non-residential development.
“We would have spent about $10 million on servicing costs and we would have been sitting on it right now, likely,” Crouse said of the North Campbell land. “That's what the private sector does is they take the risk.”
Biermanski felt the city should concentrate on designating land and helping to market it, but is lacking the expertise required to get into development.
“I just can't see spending money on developing areas and hoping somebody wants to use your space,” she said.
