Medicine Hat council approves $4M electric generation funding, business licence fee changes

Council approved the reallocation without debate.

Business licence fees were the main topic of discussion during the meeting, with the council debating how the city should structure and set fees for local businesses.

The city introduced a new tiered licensing system for 2025 and 2026 in an effort to simplify its previous fee structure and tie fees more closely to the level of work and regulatory checks required for different businesses.

The changes resulted in some businesses seeing significant fee increases, while others saw their fees decrease.

Administration said it received complaints from businesses affected by the increases and recommended changes for 2027.

Under the approved changes, the current Tier 4 category will be eliminated, with businesses in that category moving into Tier 3.

Tier 4 currently includes liquor stores, cannabis stores and licensed restaurants and pubs with VLTs that do not allow minors.

The proposed 2027/28 fee structure will have no fee for Tier 1 businesses, while Tier 2 fees are expected to range from $190 to $225 and Tier 3 fees from $390 to $450.

The highest tier, formerly Tier 5, will have a proposed fee of $2,500.

The non-resident business licence fee will be $500, with a $50 administration fee applying in specific circumstances.

Administration expects the changes to modestly reduce business licensing revenue while keeping the department within its projected 2027/28 budget.

Much of the debate focused on Cocks’ concerns about the city’s handling of the fee increases, with councillors offering differing views on the committee process and whether the proposed changes go far enough.

Cocks opposed the changes, arguing that some businesses faced increases of about 800 per cent under the current fee structure.

He said reducing those increases does not go far enough and questioned the rationale behind the city’s business licence fees, including whether the city should be charging them at all.

After the meeting, Cocks said he remained concerned about how the fee issue had been handled.

“I still have some concerns. I think that was pretty clear at the end of the day,” Cocks said.

He said the broader review of the city’s fee philosophy should have happened earlier.

“They never got discussed in an open committee meeting,” Cocks said.

“It came from a closed committee with a recommendation to open council. All you got was the open council recommendation.”

Cocks said the review now being proposed was something he believed council had already had an opportunity to undertake.

“What they’re saying they want the opportunity to do now, they’ve had the opportunity to do all along,” Cocks said.

He said the approved changes represented progress, but did not go far enough to address the concerns raised by businesses.

“It’s a step in the right direction, but a very small step in my opinion,” Cocks said.

Councillor Yusuf Mohammed said after the meeting that council had taken action after hearing concerns from local businesses.

“We had a great conversation, a discussion here. It’s something that when we heard about it, council was concerned,” Mohammed said.

Mohammed said the issue was brought back to committee as concerns continued to be raised.

“We made sure that as a committee that we put it on the agenda,” Mohammed said.

“And as different results came in, councillors had different suggestions and amendments to the options that staff gave,” he added.

“I think we’re going to spend some time looking at fees across [the] board to be able to determine what to do next.”

Council ultimately approved an amendment directing administration to provide recommendations for a rate philosophy to guide how business licence fees are established.

Administration said it could bring that work back to council within the next few months.

Council also approved amendments to its upcoming budget meeting schedule, cancelling the Oct. 13 meeting and scheduling an additional meeting for Oct. 27.

The meeting also included first reading of Bylaw 4893-2026, which would repeal and replace the city’s Subdivision and Development Appeal Board bylaw.

The current bylaw, adopted in 1994, would be replaced to align the appeal process with current legislative requirements, administrative procedures and modern terminology.

During council announcements, Councillor Brian Varga provided an update on the recently completed 2026 Special Olympics Canada Summer Games.

The Aug. 11 to 15 games brought about 1,700 athletes and thousands of additional guests to Medicine Hat.

More than 1,500 volunteers contributed more than 29,000 hours to the event, helping with transportation, food services, security and other operations.

Varga thanked the organizing committee, volunteers and community members for helping bring the national event to Medicine Hat.

Council also received notice of a future motion concerning the protection of source water and water quality.

The next Medicine Hat City Council Meeting is to take place on Sept. 8, 2026.

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READ: Medicine Hat council to consider $4M electric generation funding request and business fee change

by Jett Schwaier

Medicine Hat council approves $4M electric generation funding, business licence fee changes

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