Ward 1 Councillor Ward Sutherland will be bringing a motion to city council on Monday, Feb. 27 to give private golf courses inside city limits a tax break.
He will ask the city to send a letter to the Minister of Municipal Affairs requesting the creation of a new tax category for golf courses inside municipalities.
“Many of the owners have come forward to me and asked and said, ‘look at the way we’re taxed. It’s not a credible way and if you want us to stay inside Calgary, we need a different system of taxing and if it continues the way it is right now, were not going to exist,’” Sutherland said.
He said tax assessment is regulated under the Provincial Municipal Government Act so the city can’t change it.
Under the tax formula, he says private golf courses are taxed as non-residential property–just like any other business. He said the course operators are telling him it isn’t fair to pay the same taxes for green space as they would for a business or commercial building.
Several golf courses in Calgary have been sold for redevelopment, including Shawnee Slopes, Highland Park and Harvest Hills.
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