Council met last night, and here are some highlights:
- Travis Horne, President of Municipal Assessment Services Inc., gave a presentation on the 2024 assessment for Peace River. He explained details of the assessment process and trends in the community.
- Council provided first reading for Bylaw No. 2171, the Affordable Housing Bylaw. For background, the Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act brought changes to the Local Authorities Election Act and Municipal Government Act that included full exemption of non-profit subsidized affordable housing from property taxation effective in the 2025 taxation year. These properties were not previously exempt from taxation. Exempting them would represent a loss in tax revenue to the Town (in 2024, the amount these properties were taxed was $80,898). This bylaw, which passed first reading, would see these properties continue to be taxed (not be exempted).
- Council provided first reading to Bylaw No. 2172 to redistrict Plan 9221058, Block 1, Lot 18 and Plan 1121857 from Light Industrial District M-1 to Highway Commercial District (C-2). This is to facilitate a proposed retail development that requires this change before the Land Use Bylaw Refresh project is completed.
- Coun. Byron Schamehorn provided a notion of motion for Council to discuss at the next meeting. The motion would direct Administration to provide a report on the cost/benefit analysis exploring the implications of reducing our Peace River-funded component of RCMP officers and instead redirect those funds to expand our Community Peace Officer program. This direction is in light of the announced reduction of contracted community policing by the RCMP to take effect in 2032.
And always more.
View the agenda here: https://peaceriver.civicweb.net/filepro/documents/?expanded=9574,141215…
And watch the recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRZ0fHuSmTc
Council next meets for a Governance and Priorities meeting April 7, 2025.
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