Pete Rose, owner of Round Again Record, poses for a photo in his store after receiving a $85 increase to his local business licence for 2025, compared to a $4 increase in 2024.--NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
A lengthy construction season in 2024 that tore up Third Street as the city made significant upgrades to its downtown water and sewer systems and revamped roadways and sidewalks has significantly reduced the amount of foot traffic downtown, according to one local business owner who is speaking out after receiving his business licence renewal notice for 2025.
Pete Rose, owner of Round Again Records, says an $85.45 increase to his business licence is a “slap in the face” to local store owners who have been struggling to bring customers into their downtown stores. Last year the record store owner saw an licence increase of $4.
“It’s kept people away and now it went on so long that people just don’t come downtown anymore, they just won’t bother,” says Rose, who says before construction began last spring sales in his music store were steady, but have since “fluctuated badly.”
“Quite honestly, the day that they started to put up the fences to start on the corner, business just died right off. I’ve experienced in the last six months more days where I had zero sales than I have in the previous three and a half years.”
Rose told the News that as a business owner it’s not about the cost of the increased business licence but the principal and lack of communication around it, His fees climbed from $116.45 in 2024 to $200 this year.
“It’s unnecessary for starters, it’s a slap in the face.”
Rose says he has attempted to connect with city officials to inquire about why the fees increased by approximately 40 per cent for local business owners, but claims he was ignored, had phone calls often go unanswered and had an appointment with a city official cancelled without notice.
“Now here we are and they decided I should pay an extra $85. And it’s the principal.”
The News requested an interview with city officials but the city was unable to accommodate the request before publication time, however it did provide a statement addressing the increase to business licensing.
“While the city has acknowledged the inconvenience to downtown business owners during this infrastructure renewal project, the fee and rate-setting process is a separate matter handled by a different department.”
According to the city the main drivers for the increase were inflation, cost recovery, increased requirement of public engagement, increase in appeals, increase in enforcement expectations, simplifying the fees and charges, consolidating fees, the elimination of e-permitting surcharges and increased service-level requirements.
The city also says it offers the same licence under a three-year period for a discounted rate and says the fees are comparable to urban centres including Lethrbidge and Calgary.
“Fee structures, namely business licensing cost changes, have to take into account the entire business community, and not all businesses in a commercial district face the same changes to licensing costs,” says city officials who state some businesses have seen a decreased cost.
In hindsight. Coun. Shila Shapes told the News that the decision to approve the increase at city council was made without proper consideration of the timing for downtown businesses and says she is sympathetic toward their concerns.
“In all fairness, it takes a citizen to say, “Wait a minute, wait a minute,” and that’s a very fair point, so I think he deserves some kudos there,” says Sharps. “Maybe we need to slow down and see how it affects people.”
Sharps, who is also a downtown business owner, says communication between city staff and downtown businesses is currently ineffective, and vacancy rates continue to climb.
“Ask them what they need. They don’t need a bench outside their office, they don’t need sidewalks that are 10 feet wide. What they wanted was parking that is safe for everyone, but now we’ve lost parking downtown.
“So their business fees have increased, parking has been lost – it’s frustrating for downtown.”
Rose says it would have been a nice gesture for the city to provide any sort of compensation to help businesses while their front street was ripped up and sidewalks narrowly gated, or waive this year’s business licence fees, similar to Cypress County.
“But no, they just went the complete opposite direction,” said Rose.
