Property-tax paying St. Albert residents will be asked to rank their preferences about whether the city should build a new community library branch, a new ice arena or a new aquatics lane-swimming facility.
Mayor Nolan Crouse successfully persuaded his fellow councillors to spend up to $30,000 to fund a telephone survey asking homeowners about their preferences and their willingness to fund such projects through a tax increase.
Council will get a chance to eyeball the questions before the survey occurs. The survey will aim to get 400 people to respond.
The mayor was firm that he wanted just property taxpayers and not renters or adult children to answer the survey.
“I’m really focused on the people who have to pay the bill,” Crouse said. His sentiments were shared by the majority of council, who voted down an amendment from Coun. Tim Osborne to remove the references to just residential owners/taxpayers from the motion in a 5-2 vote.
Osborne said he understands the cost, but said he found the language council members were using around who pays the bill to be interesting. After all, renters do pay rent to their landlords.
Coun. Cathy Heron supported Osborne, noting that she wanted to hear the voice of younger people in the survey. Facilities like ice rinks, pools or libraries will likely be used by many youth.
Crouse said the “money question” around tax increases wasn’t likely to matter as much to an 18-year-old living at home or renters.
“This is serious business, I think it has to be left up to the taxpayer,” said Coun. Bob Russell. Coun. Wes Brodhead agreed that “those who pay the bill need to be asked.”
Coun. Sheena Hughes applauded the idea of consulting taxpayers, and said she appreciated the mayor’s suggestion that council gets to approve the survey questions.
“I think this is the most responsible thing we can do at this moment,” Hughes said.
Coun. Cam MacKay said without taxpayers, none of council would be there.
“I’m curious to see what the result is,” MacKay said.
In addition to arguing against the taxpayer only sentiment in the motion, Heron had issues with sending out yet another survey. Council has already planned to do surveys on the animal bylaw changes, the biannual community satisfaction survey and on public engagement this year, she said.
Heron worried about leaving out those with no home phone – many people have switched to cellphones only – and said she’s heard feedback while sitting on the public engagement committee that surveys are not ideal.
“We’re spending a lot of money on public engagement in the form of surveys, what I'm hearing from the public engagement committee is surveys are not a good way to engage the public, not at all," Heron said. “This is the wrong way to get an opinion.”
She encouraged council to gather opinions in other ways.
“It's up to the seven of us who are elected by the public to start making these hard decisions and stop spending $30,000 every time we don’t know how to make the decision,” Heron said, adding that there are several capital projects like the museum expansion that wouldn’t be addressed by the proposed survey.
Coun. Tim Osborne noted facility priority assessment research was done last year, including a 400 person telephone survey for a cost of $23,000.
“At some point we need to make a decision and stick with it,” Osborne said, though he acknowledged there are subtle differences about what’s being asked of this survey.
The mayor’s proposed survey passed in a 5-2 vote.
“I want us to really understand what we’re asking and I want us to really understand what the residential taxpayers are saying,” Crouse said.
