By KEVIN BERGER, Local Journalism Initiative
RM of Corman Park councillors will be considering a new policy at their January 27 meeting that would see the re-introduction of a tax exemption that, in its current form, would be offered on a one to five-year tiered sliding scale for large developments.
The RM of Corman Park previously had a Tax Exemption Policy that was introduced in June 2013 in order to stimulate new business development and encourage job creation.
However, that policy was rescinded on December 9, 2024. At the time, administration had presented council with a number of options for a new tax exemption, but council opted to move forward with no abatement policy.
It is worth noting that in the 2025 tax year, there were a total of $25.542 million in tax assessment exemptions under past policy given to eligible applicants. According to an administration report, this resulted in $145,286.51 in foregone tax revenue for that year.
On March 25, 2025, council asked administration to return with a report later in the fall indicating whether the absence of tax exemptions has negatively impacted development in the RM.
On October 14, 2025, administration reported they had not seen a negative impact from not offering the tax abatement program — in fact, they had only had one “meaningful conversation” with a builder who indicated construction was potentially being delayed due to the lack of an abatement.
Administration also presented some arguments for and against reintroducing a tax exemption. For instance, the Saskatchewan Regional Development Authority argued a business development incentive (BDI) would advance the municipality’s economic goals as outlined in its 2024-2028 Strategic Plan.
However, a number of bodies like the Ontario Auditor General and the Canada Property Tax Association have argued that municipal tax abatements often deliver limited economic benefit and rarely generate new investment or jobs.
Council again directed administration at that Oct. 14 meeting to bring back a comprehensive report outlining what a performance-based model would look like as a tax exemption policy.
That report was then reviewed at the December 9 administration committee meeting. Although a couple other options were presented, administration recommended re-introducing a 100% tax exemption for permanent facility improvements based on a one to five-year term.
For instance, if the building permit was valued between $1 million to $5 million and the applicant created a minimum of five full-time paid positions, a one-year exemption would be offered.
A three-year exemption would be offered for building permits valued between $5 million and $10 million, provided they employed a minimum of six new full-time employees.
Finally, building permits with a value of more than $10 million and hired more than 16 full-time employees would net a five-year exemption.
The administration committee voted 7-1 to bring forward that proposed Tax Exemption Policy with the preferred option to the January 27 council meeting.
DEC. 16 DEBATE
At the December 16 council meeting, Division 6 Councillor Steven Balzer attempted to stop further discussion of a tax abatement dead in its tracks by making a motion to discard any further consideration of an abatement.
Balzer argued that the RM doesn’t have the money right now to consider re-introducing a tax abatement, noting that residents were hit with a new $235 base tax last year “and it hit many farmers negatively. Many more than we’d like, and probably many more than we’ve heard from.”
He added, “We need to manage our bottom line before we start giving away tax breaks on the backs of all the farmers that we just recently taxed.”
Balzer further argued that the RM didn’t have the administration resources to manage the intricacies of the proposed tax abatement.
He instead encouraged councilors to look at their permit data and administration activity statistics and acknowledge there is no need for encouragement of investment.
“We have been exceeding our stats year over year,” Balzer said.
Division 2 Councillor John Saleski said he agreed with most of Balzer’s points, though he felt the tiered system that administration came up with as better than what they had seen in the past.
Saleski said he was also concerned with introducing a five-year tax abatement for a construction project of more than $10 million, stressing that anyone coming to the RM with a project of that value is not going to be deterred by the lack of a tax abatement.
“They’re going to come here whether or not we have a tax abatement policy,” he said, noting the cheaper land in Corman Park was effectively their incentive.
Ultimately, council voted in favour of the recommendation to bring the tax exemption policy back for the January 27 meeting.