ATHABASCA – One of Athabasca’s premier tourist destinations will have some extra wiggle room in its wallet after the county agreed to give it a tax break for 2025.
Athabasca County councillors unanimously agreed at their Nov. 28 meeting to give the Athabasca Golf and Country Club the first-ever Community Organization Property Exemption Regulation (COPTER) exemption handed out by the municipality following a presentation by board members Greg Kociuba and Kevin Romanchuk.
“We find that our golf course is a good draw to the community — lots of our local folks are there and we have tried our very best to keep the costs as reasonable as we can to ensure accessibility for as many people as we can,” said Kociuba. “I’ve had the great fortune in my career of being able to play golf all around the world, but I’m very proud of (the course) when I come home to play.”
A 90 per cent exemption will be applied to the course itself, and excludes the club house and pro shop.
The course employs 75 residents, 18 of which are youth. Twenty-one employees are under 30, and nine are seniors.
“Even though we are a non-profit, I think we are contributing to the local area in terms of employment, and in offering a recreational facility to youth and seniors,” said Romanchuk.
The golf course operates as a non-profit institution and has been incorporated with the province since 1955.
Romanchuk estimated the course hosts five community-centric events each year, including golf tournaments for Rotary, Road to Hope, and Al-Pac.
In an attached copy of its 2023 audited financial statements, the course showed it had lost $82,000, thanks in part to a property tax jump. In 2022, the course paid almost $18,000 in taxes, but that jumped to $35,500 after it failed to file an exemption request in time.
“The golf course is a real driver of economic activity in the region,” said Coun. Brian Hall. “This is one of the things that really brings people into Athabasca.”
The COPTER exemption only covers the portion of the grounds that fall in Athabasca County — in previous years, the Town of Athabasca had waived the courses property tax for the portion within its boundaries, but since 2021, Romanchuk said the club had instead received grant funding for a portion of the taxes.
In a Dec. 3 email, Town CAO Rachel Ramey said she didn’t think the town portion qualified for exemption, and did not currently provide a grant for the course.x
