Drumheller Town Counci has tabled the draft bylaw to begin collecting the new tourism levy/surcharge after passing the first reading, pending further review and consultation.
While Drumheller Town Council seems to support visitors to the valley contributing a few dollars on each hotel or motel stay, most of Council appeared not in favour of the proposed bylaw change as presented to them at their regular meeting Monday night, February 9.
“Council was presented a draft of the new tourism levy bylaw a couple of Council meetings ago, and we’d read through it with the understanding that most of the operators or the shareholders/stakeholders were on-board. And of course over the last week and half, we discovered that was not the case. And after looking at the bylaw ourselves, we (Council) realized that it needed tweeking, if it was to be acceptable to those involved,” said Deputy Mayor Lisa Hansen-Zacharuk.
“As it was put on the agenda this evening, Council collectively passed first reading, and what that did was allow the bylaw to go forward to have those adjustments or amendments made to it, and allow a bit more consultation with the shareholders.”
The Deputy Mayor said the Drumheller & District Chamber of Commerce has invited the hotels and campgrounds for an information session as part of shareholder consultation.
She hopes there will be more than one meeting, and that local operators will share their ideas on how to make the implementation of the tourism levy more acceptable to the people it will most affect.
Each Councillor spoke to the proposed changes prior to passing the first reading of the bylaw, and seemed to be in agreement that a tourist funded, rather than a taxpayer funded, destination marketing organization is a smart move for Drumheller, especially in light of the probability of reduced funding from the Alberta government and possible increased competition from other towns and areas seeking to draw visitors.
The Town’s solicitor will be looking into the issue raised by Councillor McMillan that two sections of the Municipal Government Act allow exemptions and also have a list of non-assessable properties for a tax purpose, noting travel trailers are not connected to a public utility, and wonders how the Town can assess a levy/fee to unserviced sites.
The issue of the levy being applied to bed and breakfasts and RV resorts and campgrounds is also being re-examined.
“I’m thinking that throughout this whole process, I’m hoping that the proper consultations will occur, and we can move forward for the betterment of the valley and the betterment of the people that actually live here,” said the Deputy Mayor.