OLDS — Town of Olds' council has now approved all eight requests by non-profit groups for 2025 tax exemptions.
Council had approved six of those requests during its Jan. 27 council meeting but deferred decision on the remaining two – the Friends of the Grizzlys and Mountain View Masonic Lodge No. 16 AF & AM – pending more information proving their benefit to the community.
The six approved on Jan. 27 are: Padnoma Support Services, the Olds & Area Pregnancy Support Centre, Scouts Canada, Imagine Gymnastics Club, Accredited Supports to the Community, and the Mountain View Hospice Society (formerly known as the Olds & District Hospice Society).
Town staff outlined the basic requirements for tax exemption. They are:
• The property must be owned or leased and operated by a non-profit organization.
• The property must be used at least 60 per cent of the time of the time for charitable or benevolent purposes that benefit the local community.
• Its resources must be devoted chiefly to the charitable and benevolent purpose for which the facility is used.
• The property must be accessible to the public at least 70 per cent of the time it is in use.
• The organization in question must not restrict access based on race, culture, ethnic origin, religious belief, property ownership, unreasonable fees, or membership requirements.
In a submission to the town, Kevin Watson, the Grizzlys’ manager of business operations, said space at their Grizzlys Den behind the Eye Wearhouse on the north side of Highway 27 is leased by the Friends of the Grizzlys, a non-profit society.
He said from August to March, the facility is used by Grizzlys players.
“These players play for the team, but also volunteer many hours throughout the season, going to schools to read to children, play games with the children, help local minor hockey players at practices, shovel snow for seniors, and volunteer at businesses,” Watson wrote.
He said examples of that volunteerism at businesses include bagging groceries at Sobeys once a month or volunteering at Tim Hortons Camp Day.
The facility is also used by minor hockey teams to train during the season. However, Watson said it’s also available for use by other sports organizations.
W.M. Matthew Tuggle, representing Mountain View Masonic Lodge #16, said that organization is a non-profit fraternal organization that has been “proudly operating in the town of Olds since 1903.”
He wrote that not only does the group hold its own meetings in its lodge but it also makes that facility available to other groups such as the Order of the Eastern Star.
It has also been made available to Paw-sitively Canine Services, Olds Preschool, a puppy training school the Mountain View Dart Club and the Association of Filipino Canadians in Mountain View County.
It’s also been made available to families for events like birthdays and anniversaries.
During the Jan. 27 meeting, corporate services director Sheena Linderman told council that successful applicants would be exempt from full property tax, including the education and seniors’ components.
Linderman said if all eight were approved, that would be about a $46,756 hit on the municipal portion of taxes, based on 2024 levies.
“The municipal portion obviously affects our budget, tax revenue, budget. And then the education and seniors’ (portion) would have to be absorbed by everyone else.”
She confirmed that all eight applications had received tax exemptions in the past and all have met the number 1 requirement: that they’re a non-profit organization.
