Private school seeks exemption from development taxes for new recreation facility
Posted May 3, 2019 11:09:00 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
St. John's-Kilmarnock School has received a $7 million donation to build a new athletic facility that will primarily be used for women’s and youth hockey.
The donation comes courtesy of Gordon Schembri, of Schembri Property Management.
He and the school feel they should be exempt from the $265,000 development fee imposed by Waterloo Region.
They feel that they should not have to pay the fee on top of the donation as the facility will be made available for public use and will provide benefits to the community.
Regional councillor Tom Galloway spoke to Brian Bourke on Kitchener Today on 570 NEWS and is concerned about the precedent it would set.
“We would have people lining up to get these types of exemptions, nobody wants to pay these fees but they are essential for the development of Waterloo region.”
Woolwich Township has already granted the school an exemption from their development fee, Waterloo region has yet to make a decision.
St. John's-Kilmarnock is a non-profit institution meaning that any donations qualify for a tax credit however the development fee would not qualify.
Waterloo Regional Council will revisit the issue next week on May 8th.
