The Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce made it clear that its members are opposed to any new consumption taxes that could help the municipality generate additional revenue for its coffers.
That was the message delivered by Rusty Noble, president of the Chamber, during its monthly breakfast meeting on April 11.
鈥淎dditional taxes in the form of a consumption tax, environmental levy or tourism levy is a concern to us because we feel it creates a more uncompetitive structure,鈥� said Noble. 鈥淭he municipality has to understand that there are more ways beyond taxation.鈥�
Instead of applying more taxes, Noble said the business community would like the municipality to negotiate a new revenue sharing agreement with both the federal and provincial governments.
鈥淎t the end of the day the provincial government and federal government really need to invest back into the community to make sure the community can generate income for both levels of government,鈥� said Noble.
In March the Chamber held two focus groups with its members and representatives from the municipality to discuss the town鈥檚 lobbying efforts to be recognized by the province as a tourism-based community.
For the past several years the municipality of Jasper has been working with the towns of Banff and Canmore to demonstrate the challenges of servicing visitor volumes that far exceed resident population.
The hope is that if the communities are given special status, the province will provide the municipalities with additional revenue tools or agree to a new revenue sharing agreement to put more money back into their coffers.
So far the business community has been cool to the idea of implementing any new taxes.
鈥淭he municipality is actually pushing forward on this, but they haven鈥檛 told us what it鈥檚 going to look like and that鈥檚 a huge concern from the business community鈥檚 standpoint. We can鈥檛 give carte blanche that we support this wholeheartedly without actually knowing what it means,鈥� Noble said, adding it鈥檚 not clear who the tax would apply to.
In September the municipality released a report that showed Jasper, Banff and Canmore make up less than one per cent of Alberta鈥檚 population, but play host to 13 per cent of the province鈥檚 visitors, attracting more than four million tourists annually.
In Jasper, approximately 5,000 residents pay municipal taxes to host up to 25,000 visitors a day during the summer months, putting a strain on municipal services and infrastructure.
鈥淚t would be the equivalent of the city of Calgary, with a million people, hosting four million visitors in a single day, every day,鈥� said Noble.
According to the report, visitor spending in Jasper alone results in an estimated $375 million in annual gross provincial income and supports nearly 5,000 full-time jobs in the province. This equates to about $154.5 million annually in tax revenue to all three levels of government, or approximately $423,000 per day.
Breaking that down, the federal government claims the largest piece of the pie, collecting about $97.1 million annually or about $266,000 in taxes per day, while the province rakes in about $51.3 million annually, more than $141,000 per day.
In comparison, the municipality collects about $4.3 million annually or about $12,000 per day.
The federal government鈥檚 share does not include gate fees collected by Parks Canada.
During Noble鈥檚 20-minute presentation he also provided a range of other suggestions to generate or save the municipality money, including reviewing the municipality鈥檚 land rent agreement with Parks Canada, asking the municipality to carry out an in-depth review of its current spending practices or possibly hiring a lobbyist to push both levels of government for more money.
Paul Clarke
[email protected]
