Although the incoming mayor and council will have the power to set their own direction and goals for their four-year term, there are some issues that will undoubtedly come up during that time.
There鈥檚 the need for affordable housing, the future of the Transfer Station, a plan for the high school exchange lands and the need for extended daycare, to just name a few.
But if you ask Richard Ireland, who has been in the mayor鈥檚 seat since Jasper was incorporated as a municipality in 2001 and has announced his intention to stand for re-election, he鈥檇 tell you the biggest issue facing the incoming council is the need for alternative revenue sources.
鈥淧roperty tax isn鈥檛 the answer,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e will not be sustainable in the long term until we address revenue sources, and property tax just isn鈥檛 the way of the future.鈥�
The search for revenue could, if Jasper succeeds in its dealings with the provincial government, result in the community being recognized as a resort municipality, much like Whistler, B.C. As a resort municipality in B.C., Whistler receives a portion of the provincial hotel tax, as recognition that it鈥檚 in a unique position compared to other municipalities.
Currently Alberta doesn鈥檛 have such a status for communities like Jasper.
The municipality has been working toward such a distinction for some time now鈥攁long with Banff, Canmore and the province鈥攁nd Ireland said it can鈥檛 wait much longer.
鈥淲e have to maintain infrastructure to meet peak capacity of maybe 25,000 people on [a long weekend]. It鈥檚 a tremendous strain on our taxpayers to deal with that. Other communities have the benefit of growth, real growth. So as the costs of running the municipality keep going up, they can keep adding new properties. We don鈥檛 have that advantage,鈥� he said, referring to federal legislation that controls development in the park.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no growth here, so our assessment base doesn鈥檛 increase. Our costs go up because the cost of living in the world keeps rising, so the only thing we can do is turn to property tax.鈥�
And that isn鈥檛 sustainable. Not only does it upset taxpayers, it also forces the municipality to defer projects, like infrastructure upgrades that are becoming more pressing by the day.
鈥淚 think we have less than a 10 year window to get this sorted out,鈥� said Ireland. 鈥淵ou can probably dance around the issue for awhile yet, by a combination of small tax increases and not addressing necessary infrastructure concerns, but that鈥檚 not a long term solution for our community.鈥�
Other long term solutions that need to be address are extended daycare and housing, said Pattie Pavlov, general manager of the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce.
鈥淗ousing is a superb issue,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e have a severe shortage of staff this year and housing has a lot to do with it. The municipality needs to be hands on and work with Parks Canada on that.鈥�
Extended daycare is another issue that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later, so that businesses have enough staff at any given time.
鈥淲hen you don鈥檛 have enough people to go around as it is and those who have children have to be scheduled only for certain hours because there isn鈥檛 extended daycare, boy you鈥檙e hooped,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat issue is probably going to rear its head again, and I know it鈥檚 an expensive proposition, but there has to be something we can work out, somehow, some way.鈥�
With all of these issues, Ireland said there will likely be a greater focus on public engagement this term, as there are now policies in place for engaging the public on such issues.
He pointed to the use of the exchange lands鈥攖he site of the current high school, which is set to be demolished sometime in late 2014鈥攁s a 鈥済reat opportunity to make use of that policy.鈥�
As things stand, there is no plan for that land, beyond being a green space equivalent to the old bowling green, where the new school is being built.
鈥淚 expect that [land] will generate a lot of interest,鈥� he said.
Nicole Veerman
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