The City of Medicine Hat may examine how it determines the level of income that allows access to utility credits, subsidized bus passes and "fair entry" discounts to city rec and cultural facilities next year.--News Photo Collin Gallant
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
Administrative changes could be coming to how Hatters register for a city program that provides subsidized bus passes, buffers utility bills and provides discounted rec passes, but a study of where the income levels should be set is a year away.
The City of Medicine Hat’s “Fair entry” program was developed in 2018 for admission fees to fitness facilities and Esplanade programming. It was expanded last year to include transit passes and some portion of utility bills in high-use months.
At that time, city analysts said as many as 6,000 Hatters might qualify based on information on incomes from Statistics Canada, but in the first nine months of 2023, only about 1,300 had registered.
Members of the council’s public services committee said Tuesday that difference leaves them wondering about uptake, or whether the qualification process – based on a federally set low income calculation, known as LICO – is the best way to calculate need.
The LICO limit is currently $25,146 for a single person, $31,303 for a couple, or $46,726 for a family of four.
Division head Brian Stauth said the city has “less than a year of data” to work with and would need more time to study potential changes.
“We’re just not comfortable making a recommendation yet,” he said during general discussion about the apparent disconnect between estimates and actual.
Staff also said 1,300 current participants is about 10 times the number who took part in 2022. This year transit and utility subsidies were added, representing a 75 per cent of monthly bus passes, and what was originally $300 in utility credits was expanded to $1,200 — a program apart from the $800 in “cost relief” credits approved by council .
And, analysis is made more complicated as some facets involve individuals (such as bus passes) where others involve family groups (like utilities).
“It’s heartening to know the impact has gone up, but it’s sad that there are so many people who need this program,” said Coun. Cassi Hider.
In 2023, the program for rec and cultural facility passes, which covers 75 per cent of the admission costs doubled to a maximum of $200 each.
The transit aspect waives 75 per cent of the cost of a monthly pass, to a total of $630 per year – paid for partly by provincial government transportation grants.
“The biggest concern is that we’re not sure how the low-income transit passes will be funded (net year) until April when we see the provincial budget,” said Stauth, saying local options will be presented next spring.
The province has said it wants to expand access to low-cost transit, said Stauth, but that could involve extending new grants to additional cities, or increasing existing grants to capture more riders or increase the subsidy.
On Wednesday the committee heard administrators want to extend qualifications to every two years, rather than every 12 months, to lessen administrative burden and hassle for those receiving benefits.
Editor’s Note: This version of the report corrects and clarifies several facts of the Fair Entry Program. A new scale of “Low-Income” threshold is included. Specifically, it notes the program covers 75 per cent of bus and recreation passes up to a maximum of $200 for admission or $630 for transit, per year. As well, council approved increasing the fair entry utility credit system to $1,200 total mid year. The News regrets the confusion.
