Land use and tax sale reserve bids on the agenda at Monday night's Council meeting

The following decisions were made during Red Deer City Council’s meeting on Monday, March 4, 2024.

Tax Sale Reserve Bid

City Council passed a resolution to approve the reserve bids for properties on the 2024 tax sale list. Tax collection is legislated by the Municipal Government Act (MGA) and when overdue taxes and tax arrears remain unpaid for three consecutive years City Council is responsible to set reserve bids for the properties, which are offered for sale at a public auction. Reserve bid values are determined by an independent professional appraiser and are as close as reasonably possible to fair market value.
Approval of the reserve bids enables administration to move forward with further legislated options to collect unpaid property taxes. A tax sale public auction is scheduled for April 18, 2024.
Any person may pay the tax arrears owing against the property up to the public auction being declared open. Full payment of all tax arrears and penalties is required to remove the property from the tax sale list and to discharge the tax notification or lien. If all properties are resolved by the tax sale date, the sale will be cancelled.

Land Use Bylaw Report

During the Phase 1 public participation, The City consulted with more than 300 engaged citizens, 60 businesses/developers/realtors, 50 youth and 30 newcomers through numerous engagement opportunities from 2021 to 2023.
In two weeks, the Land Use Bylaw will come back to City Council on March 18, 2024, for first reading.
To read the report, visit: https://engage.reddeer.ca/LUBreview

Quarterly Report

Administration presented the Q4 Report Card, which highlights the progress towards the outcomes in the 2023-2026 Strategic Plan. It showcased specific activities related to seven outcomes, including significant upgrades to municipal infrastructure that contribute to a thriving city. At the next update Council and the community will receive an update on the 2023 annual metrics, which comprise all the outcomes and will contain even more information.

Community Services Master Plan

City Council provided direction to begin work on a multi-year Community Services Masterplan in 2024.
The plan is expected to cost $550,000 over two years and will be funded by sponsorship revenue of $250,000 as well as reallocated funding of $300,000 from within existing operational funding at the City Managers discretion.
The Community Services Masterplan will include a suite of plans, which focus on recreation, community development, parks, and public works. It will define the guiding principles The City uses to understand which businesses it is, or not in. It will inform the allocation of future resources, capital amenities planning, asset maintenance priorities, future community partnerships, as well as the prioritization of integration efforts and the focus of planning energies moving forward.
The report, which was asked for by Council during the 2024 Budget debate in January, outlined a suite of planning initiatives in service to the sustainability of the organization.

Municipal Reserve Designation

There Was a public hearing on the removal of the municipal reserve designation from Lot R4, Block I, Plan 215IMC located in the Riverside Light industrial area. With City Council passing this item, the municipal designation can be removed, which will allow the unused landlocked parcel to be leased or sold.

**with information provided by The City of Red Deer