Medicine Hat city council delays approval of new off-site levy
Medicine Hat city council has pushed back approving a new off-site levy policy until December to give time for broader community consultation after overwhelming pressure from business leaders during a council meeting Tuesday evening.
Executives of the Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce cited delays in consultations, lack of transparency in the calculation models and unresolved issues from previous discussions in pushing for council to push off confirming a staff proposal.
Chamber executive director Lisa Dressler said businesses are particularly worried about the impact of changes to the nodes used in the levy model, the potential for increased costs and the overall competitiveness of the municipality.
“When you don’t understand the numbers going into the model that’s first of the challenges to occur,” Dressler said during an open hearing Tuesday.