Facing $190 million in potential recreation and fire service infrastructure costs over the next decade, Rocky View County (RVC) is pondering bringing in special levies to help cover the expense of these investments.
During their July 11 Governance Committee meeting, committee members heard various options from RVC staff as to how these potential levies could be applied.
According to documents presented at the committee meeting, the cost breakdown for the new Madden, Bragg Creek, Harmony, Conrich and Cochrane Lake fire stations would amount to about $40 million in total, with Madden and Bragg Creek scheduled for construction in 2025, Conrich in 2027, and Harmony and Cochrane Lakes scheduled for 2030.
The fire station builds would range between $6.5 million for Madden on the less expensive end of the scale and $9.5 million for Cochrane Lake on the higher end.
On the recreation side of things, RVC is looking at spending potentially $11.7 million for the Indus Twin Arena project and $35 million for the new Langdown Recreation Centre, with both potentially getting construction underway as early as 2024.
On the west side of the county, phase one of the South Springbank recreation centre could get underway as early as 2026 and cost $16.9 million, while phases two and three would follow in 2031 and 2035, respectively, at a cost of about $50 million.
The future Harmony community centre, at a projected cost of $19.3 million, and the Conrich community centre, at a projected cost of $17.8 million, could follow by 2034.
RVC staff proposed three different levy models for the Governance Committee’s consideration, which could recoup the costs of these projects over the next 20 years.
The first would be a levy applied only to the individual communities and immediate surrounding areas where the structures would be built. For the fire stations, this would mean local property owners would have to pay on a per hectare basis for the structures. This would amount to a levy estimated between $1,500 and $6,900 per hectare for each property owner to be paid over 20 years.
For recreation facilities, the levy could be anywhere between $1,500 and $50,000 per hectare over 20 years, depending on the facility and the amount of land owned in the levy area.
A second option presented to the Governance Committee would be to have a levy catchment area based on those who live in east Rocky View County and those who live in west Rocky View County. That means, for example, all property owners in the east would pay into one levy pool for all fire stations and recreation facilities built into east Rocky View County, regardless of the actual community they might live in or near.
Again, the levies would be paid over 20 years.
According to RVC staff, this strategy would mean every taxpayer in that catchment area would pay $2,800 per hectare over 20 years for all the fire stations built in either east or west Rocky View County.
However, the levy rates would be different for recreation facilities built in those catchment areas. Because the infrastructure cost for east Rocky View County would be higher overall, property owners would have to pay a levy of $18,000 per hectare over 20 years.
In west Rocky View County, that cost would be $12,000 per hectare, again to be paid over 20 years.
Finally, the third option presented to RVC’s Governance Committee on July 11 was a special levy that would be applied to all property owners in Rocky View County. The money raised from the levies would pay into one fund for all fire stations and recreation facilities.
Paid over 20 years, the fire station levy would be $2,000 per hectare and the recreation levy would be $6,500 per hectare for each property owner in the county.
The Governance Committee did not make any specific recommendation as to which levy option might be preferred, and, in the end, received the report for information only.
The matter will come back to Rocky View County council for further debate and decision at a future meeting, and would require a public hearing before any levy could be enacted.
