Light agenda for council meeting

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on April 16, 2025.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

With no official business motions, submissions or presentations on the agenda, Lethbridge city council met only briefly on Tuesday before going into a closed session.

Council unanimously approved the consent agenda which included five first readings of bylaws.

Bylaws given first reading were:

1)Bylaw 6481 – Downtown Business Improvement Area tax rate bylaw.

2) Bylaw 6482 Tax installment pre-payment plan bylaw

3) Bylaw 6483 – 2025 property tax and supplementary property tax bylaw

4) Bylaw 6484 -Land Use Bylaw amendment regarding 3007 26 Ave. S, and;

5) Bylaw 6486 – Land Use Bylaw amendment regarding Blackwolf 2 Phase 2 (2200 44 Ave. N.)

On March 25, council approved the Downtown BIA’s budget request of $283,492.

A report to council states that a minimum tax of $138 will be applied to 103 businesses, accounting for $14,214 in levies. The rest of the budget, which is derived from business assessments, is used to determine the tax rate of 0.003897 which is used to generate the BIA’s revenue.

Council will be asked to give second and third readings to this bylaw at its April 29 meeting.

The tax installment pre-payment bylaw must be enacted before April 29 – when council will be asked to give second and third readings – for new amounts to be calculated for 2025-26.

Bylaw 6483 – the property tax and supplementary property tax bylaw – imposes a tax rate to be applied to all taxable properties in the city with a due date of June 30.

A correspondence from the City’s department of finance and corporate performance to council notes that the combined provincial education tax levy for 2025 has increased over 2024 by a net amount of about 13.79 per cent.

The tax levy for the Green Acres Foundation has increased by a net amount of 3.92 per cent – about $94,000 – to “adequately fund affordable housing for senior citizens, and is responsive to the needs of seniors, their families and the community,” says the letter.

According to the finance and corporate performance department, the residential market has experienced an increase in value of about eight per cent in the past year while non-residential properties have seen an increase of 3.4 per cent and multi-family units an increase of 2.6 per cent.

The City expects total tax dollars to be collected in 2025 amount to $246,572,362.

Public hearings on the land use bylaw amendments will be held in council chambers on May 13.