After a close vote, Regina city council has decided to eliminate a decade-old tax break for private golf courses.
“We are creating a tax loophole, I think, for a space and for residents that probably do not need this,” said Coun. Andrew Stevens (Ward 3) who put forward the idea at Wednesday’s city council meeting.
Regina has two private golf courses — the Royal Regina Golf Club and the Wascana Country Club. The change, if approved through the 2022 budget process, will increase property taxes for one course by $17,195 and the other by $2,926.
“These are private clubs with pretty lucrative fees associated to their membership,” said Stevens. “I think that membership can afford to pay the difference.”
The change was spurred by a Tax Policy and Affordability Report presented to council that included a review of property tax sub-classes.
According to the report, council established the golf course sub-class in 2001 for “tax relief purposes to offset the direct competition with municipal golf courses that are exempt from property taxes.”
The mill rate factor for the golf course sub-class is currently set to 65 per cent of that of the commercial sub-class. The approximately $20,000 not billed to golf courses each year, is made up by the remaining properties in the commercial property class.
Stevens described the sub-class as a relic from a previous council that the current council should not be beholden to and said it does nothing to forward the current objectives of the city. He put forward an amendment to the report that directs administration to eliminate the golf course sub-class in the 2022 budget deliberation process.
“If your concern is that there hasn’t been any public consultation, etc. — one, I would say I don’t think they’re entitled to it. Secondly, if this amendment goes ahead, it will be considered in the budget and there will be time for any of the affected parties to come forward and speak to this,” he said.
But that didn’t sit well with other members of council. Coun. Lori Bresciani (Ward 4) argued that it would be unfair to recommend the sub-class be removed before the city has even had a discussion with the owners of the affected golf courses.
“Seventeen thousand dollars is a lot when you think about a golf course is only for a few months in the summer,” she said. “The revenue has to carry all year round to keep it open.”
