Red Deer’s Downtown Business Association levy is increasing and the question is why?
Business is down, unemployment is up, bankruptcies are up, store closures are up, and the city’s population decreased by 900 or about1%.
The city taxpayers are spending and have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the downtown. 135 million relocating the public works yard, tens of millions on roads and services, tens of millions on the arena now after the millions spent on the curling club and the bus station.
So after all this money spent, people are moving out of Red Deer, business is down, taxes are up and the DBA or Downtown Business Association wants more money.
The DBA is also discussing increasing its’ boundaries, making the downtown in Red Deer larger than many towns.
The Red Deer Taxpayers’ Association is perplexed, wondering if perhaps that they never got the memo about the global downturn, and if perhaps they should consider downsizing, or at least finding some efficiencies. I may be adding to and paraphrasing their concerns.
I would have asked certain accountants about the pros and cons of an increased levy and their effect on corporate decision making and returns on investment, but they moved their practice to gasoline alley on highway 2. That I dare say answers that question.
When it comes to the downtown, the desire is for a larger courthouse, a larger city hall, a concert hall, a new aquatic centre, and more business. History tells us that we may as well wish for an orange grove in city park, because fantasy and reality are never the same.
Years of trying, hundreds of millions spent, thousands of decisions biased in favor of downtown and though the downtown is prettier, businesses are still leaving and residents seldom visit. What can we do?
We could rethink our plan for downtown or we could move downtown to gasoline alley and have Hwy 2 as our Main Street. Yeah, but, Pedestrian traffic might be a problem, but I am sure a few hundred million more dollars could fix that. Usual fix.
We could simply decide that the current economic environment dictates a more conservative strategy and business model for the downtown, til further notice. No increased levies. End of story. Thank you.
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