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Your LOCAL Media since 1918! VOLUME 107: ISSUE 25
Local family shaves their heads ~ story on page 4
www.tofieldmerc.com
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
Ryley business owners unimpressed with tax rebate turned grant Kari Janzen Staff Reporter
The Village of Ryley recently reintroduced a business and commercial grant policy that some business owners are not impressed with. What used to be a tax rebate is now set up as a grant that is meted out in percentages corresponding to proof of community involvement. A grant launch meeting was held at the Chinese restaurant in Ryley on Monday, Jan. 27, which Chief Administrative Officer Glen HamiltonBrown said was also the introduction of the idea of a Ryley business guild. “The reason for getting together on that day wasn't really about the grant as much as it was about introducing the business guild. I said, it's up to you guys, and I just want to try and support a networking of businesses in and around Ryley. My vision is kind of like a monthly coffee, dinner, or lunch or something, just get together and chat, almost like a chamber of commerce type of thing on a small scale, and from that, we would listen to ideas of how the munici-
pality can support businesses,” Hamilton-Brown said on Feb. 6. Meanwhile, some Ryley business owners are not interested in what they think will be a Villagerun business guild, and believe they have good rapport and communication amongst one another as it is. “We deal with each other all the time already,” Sam Kumson, of Kumsons Electrical Services, told The Tofield Mercury. “I talk to Hubert [Graham, of Ryalta Industries] every day, we all talk to each other all the time. To have a guild run by them would be pointless. We left the meeting not really sure about what he [Hamilton-Brown] wanted to do, and didn’t want to have a part in it,” Kumson said. The business owners who spoke with The Tofield Mercury view the rebate-turned-grant as an insult, and not as an incentive. “It is not incentivizing anybody, it’s hindering everybody. Before, all I had to do was upkeep my business, and you’d give me the money, now I have to upkeep my business, and be part of this,
Main street Ryley. PHOTO KARI JANZEN and do this, and do that,” Kumson said. Businesses are able to apply for this grant annually, once their taxes have been paid in full by the due date. “The grant can only be applied for by a business owner who will receive 60 per cent of the total monies granted. Commercial landowners will receive grant monies automatically when a business owner on their property receives grant monies. A commercial landowner of a qualifying business will receive up to 40 per cent of the total monies granted, prorated to match the portion of 60 per cent granted to the business,” the policy says. “Funding for the program is to be done from the receipt of taxes generated. Grant shall not exceed 50 per cent of the total non-residential tax
paid by the property owner of the location of the businesses applying. For example, a municipal tax of $2,000 on a central business district property receiving 50 per cent of the municipal tax amounts to $1,000 maximum grant possible,” the policy says. Qualifying grant application criteria for disbursement includes upgrades to the façade, up to 35 per cent, local participation by becoming a Ryley council board or committee member, up to 25 per cent, volunteering as the business in a municipal event, up to 10 per cent, other upgrades to the property or building, up to 10 per cent, and any two of the following up to 20 per cent: business owner is a signatory of the Ryley Business Guild through the Village of Ryley Community Resource Centre, a development permit application
has been submitted for the property in which the business is located or development is currently taking place, proof of active advertising for the business, employment of four or more employees which can include the business owner, contribution to Ryley Welcome Packages for new residents, and offering student employment and or summer student opportunities. Dan De Brabandere of Western Barn Finds buys derelict vehicles from farmer’s pastures, and then sells and ships them to Ontario to be restored. De Brabandere moved to Ryley from Ontario and said he chose to bring his business to Ryley because of the tax rebate. “I initially purchased here in 2017 because of the incentive program. I knew that if I purchased my shop and based my
business out of here, that was a good incentive for me. Last year I purchased a residential property, and now live here in Ryley as well,” he said. De Brabandere says he believes changes were made to the policy because some businesses were not keeping their end of the bargain. “The original rebate was, basically, anyone who owned commercial property in town and paid their taxes in full by the due date instead of taking a monthly payment plan, would get half of the municipal portion of their taxes back, which was to go towards upkeep of your property, whether that was fresh paint, fixing fence, or whatever. As long as they could see that it was being put towards the property each year, they were happy with you. Continued to page 8