Heading into municipal budget week, the Town of Okotoks is coming off a successful stint at the Alberta Municipalities Convention, where their request to expand authority to support affordable housing was overwhelmingly supported by the association's voting body.
“I think all of us as municipalities across the province are all dealing with these exact same challenges,” said Okotoks Mayor Tanya Thorn, who expressed satisfaction with the results of the vote.
"That's a great advantage of us being a part of this association, is that it creates a hub for advocacy on issues that do impact all of us.”
Alberta Municipalities (formerly AUMA), represents over 260 municipalities, and as part of their vision to enable municipalities to be engaged, annual resolutions are held to allow governing bodies to identify common issues and allow the association’s board of directors to advocate to higher levels of government on the municipality's behalf.
Resolutions must contain relevant and factual background information, a proposal for action and be seconded by another municipality.
The expansion of municipal authority to support affordable housing was the first resolution sponsored by the town. The proposal was seconded by the Town of Canmore.
Thorn explained that the town’s proposal was that the Municipal Government Act (MGA) be expanded to create additional opportunities for affordable housing.
“The more diversification you can get in a housing product, the more affordability improves,” she said, explaining that this could come in the form of secondary or granny suites, or tiny homes on existing properties.
This would provide affordability not only to the individual living in the addition, but also to the person who owns the property.
"The advantage to that, is that improvement stays with the home and it doesn't necessarily go with the person who made that investment," Thorn said.
Remaining fees are transferred to the next owner through their property taxes if the project is not paid in full during the time of sale, she added.
An idea to propose this amendment was inspired by similar work done last year, Thorn said.
The Clean Energy Improvement Program (CEIP), which allows homeowners to make environmental improvements to their properties and pay for those improvements through additions to their property taxes, was accomplished through changes to the MGA.
“The proposed program would work in a similar fashion to the CEIP where property owners could finance suites using competitive interest rates and repayment terms of up to 20-25 years and have the option to pay the project off at any time,” the resolution said. “Repayment would be made through their regular property tax bill. The Town of Okotoks is not aware of any other province that currently has this type of program to encourage affordable housing options.”
Okotoks Coun. Cheryl Actemichuk gave a presentation to attendees prior to the vote and said the need for affordable housing in the province has grown substantially over the last decade.
As of April 2021, more than 110,000 low-income Albertans live in affordable housing and more than 24,000 are on a wait list, she said.
The affordable housing resolution passed by a vote of 444 (82.22 per cent) to 96 (17.78 per cent).
Resolutions that are passed are added to the advocacy agenda for the association's board of directors in the upcoming year.
