Residents and businesses in Warman will be digging a little deeper into their wallets beginning next year to pay for a second ice surface at the Warman Home Centre Communiplex and other future recreation capital projects.
Warman City Council voted at its meeting on Monday, May 8 to implement a separate Recreation Capital Levy on both commercial and residential properties, beginning in 2024. It will not impact this year’s property taxes.
The Recreation Capital Levy in 2024 will be $75.
In 2025, the levy will increase to $150.
Warman council also voted at its May 8 meeting to change the name of its Aquatic Centre Reserve to the ‘Recreation Capital Project Reserve’.
The Aquatic Centre Reserve was set up several years ago specifically for the eventual construction of an indoor pool in Warman.
Currently, there is about $800,000 in the reserve that was allocated from general revenues.
Those funds will now go toward recreation capital projects which council deems to be highest priority to meet the needs of the community. An aquatic centre is still on the city’s 10-year capital plan.
A second ice surface for the Warman Home Centre Communiplex (formerly known as the Legends Centre) is also on the city’s list of high-priority capital projects.
The city has applied unsuccessfully over the past several years to obtain infrastructure grant funding from the federal and provincial governments for the expansion.
Last fall, after the latest rejection of its grant application, city council decided to explore ways of self-financing the project. One option was a separate recreation tax levy.
(The City of Martensville has had a similar levy of $150 in place for several years. Funds from that levy are helping to pay the municipal share of its new $40 million multi-purpose recreation facility currently under construction.)
The recreation levy generated considerable debate at the May 8 Warman City Council meeting.
Councillor Tracy Johnson opposed the new levy. She said while she sees the need for additional recreational amenities and supports those projects, she felt this was “not the right time” to impose an additional tax on ratepayers.
Councillor Marshall Seed said implementing the levy is not a decision he takes lightly, but noted the city has exhausted all other funding options.
“We can’t wait for senior levels of government to help fund this,” said Seed.
“We have to move forward now. This is an investment in the future of our community, and I think it’s a reasonable amount.”
Warman Mayor Gary Philipchuk said it’s been frustrating dealing with the provincial and federal governments, noting that the city has been rejected for funding time after time, but was always reassured on every occasion that it would be approved next time.
“It’s frustrating because we could have applied for grant funding for other projects,” said Philipchuk.
The Mayor said the building itself was started over a decade ago with grassroots community funding by volunteers. At that time, provincial and federal funding was not forthcoming.
Philipchuk said he felt the special levy was necessary to move the project forward. He added that the tax won’t take effect until next year, so ratepayers won’t be taken by surprise this year.
“I’ve had lots of public feedback on this issue,” said Philipchuk. “And I expect to hear more at our open house on Wednesday, May 17 at the Brian King Centre.
“So far, about 80 per cent of the comments have been supportive of this decision. I welcome people’s input. We’re being very open and transparent about this.”
Councillor Shaun Cripps said there is a serious need for an additional ice surface in Warman, noting that the city of Prince Albert has 12 indoor rinks, but fewer children registered in its minor hockey association than Warman, which has only two indoor ice surfaces.
Councillor Richard Beck added his voice in support of the dedicated recreation levy, saying the arena expansion project has been on the books for years, and it needs to happen now.
Councillor Kevin Tooley also supported the levy, saying that while he doesn’t like paying higher taxes, the city can’t rely on the provincial and federal governments to fund future recreational facilities.