City pilot to grow non-residential tax base has 'jaws dropping': Developer
As Edmonton heads toward an election, its city administration has an interesting plan to "grow the pie" on non-residential taxes in order to solve its ongoing construction chaos, Stewart Fraser, vice-president of acquisitions at Cantiro, told Taproot.
The role municipal taxes play in almost every aspect of city building, including how and when its projects are built, was examined during a members-only livestream with Taproot co-founder Mack Male on Oct. 3.
Edmonton is currently excellent at basic development approvals and streamlining its processes, Fraser said. "Our approval timelines for development here in Edmonton are industry best right across Canada," he said. Fraser added that Cantiro, which works across Canada, "can deliver a project much quicker" in Edmonton than Ontario or British Columbia.
But what Edmonton's not currently good at, he said, is its own large capital projects — think LRT, bridge renewal, and major street rehabilitation. "Within the (city) administration, you have multiple different departments not talking to each other, and each one has their own little priority," Fraser said.
Beyond that, he said, a less-examined gremlin is our over-reliance on residential taxes and the pressure that puts on city council to manage projects based on what they will mean for residential tax bills. Recently, city reports have noted Edmonton's share of non-residential taxes across the region has fallen dramatically.
In this pattern, Fraser said, you can get a "stacking" of capital project construction. This happens when council defers construction to avoid spikes to residential ratepayers and their "pitchforks," but multiple deferrals suddenly become critical fixes and must be built all at once. It's a situation, he said, that many in the city's west end are currently living through.
Fraser said one solution, beyond the city getting far better at communicating with itself, is its ongoing work to grow the non-residential tax base.
"If we can have more industrial, more commercial (activity), like whether it's office (buildings), retail, anything that's not off of your Joe Edmonton tax bill, it then lightens the burden on everything else within the city," Fraser said.
He noted the city's new guaranteed timelines pilot program, which offers industrial projects that are shovel-ready with just a 40-day approval turnaround, is a potential game-changer. "We're getting jaws dropping in a lot of regions (across Canada with that pilot). They don't even believe that's possible," he said.
Taproot holds members-only livestreams every second Friday, where guests such as Fraser go deep on issues of interest to Edmontonians. Become a member for access to future livestreams.
