Living in a bedroom community or even on an unincorporated plot of land to enjoy lower taxes and utility bills while still being part of the action in the nearby larger centre is not a new trick.
In fact, it isn’t a trick at all. Many wise property owners have done it. For example there’s a couple – an accountant and a former national park warden service officer, both business owners – living on more than 100 acres of land just outside the national park he patrolled for three decades in Alberta.
They have none of the Parks Canada regulations to follow, no approvals for appliance outlets, no requirement to live trap squirrels in the roof, and no $490,000 pillbox condos. What they do have is a postcard-worthy view of the mountains in the park and all the access to the park’s features that a yearly pass allows, all while paying their much easier-to-stomach taxes.
That’s an extreme example of what the residents of Ingraham Trail have a taste of. They get more of a natural setting, less traffic than many residential streets in Yellowknife do, and they don’t pay municipal taxes.
The rub here for city council is that the municipality can’t afford to deliver services, in this case, fire protection, for free.
Things certainly have changed since last December. It wasn't long after the start of the new year that public health orders were put in place that effectively shut down the economy. Businesses closed their doors, some never to open again or suffering monumental losses which could only partially be covered by Covid-relief funding.
The City of Yellowknife, too, lost out during the pandemic. Unable to open city-run recreational facilities, the municipality’s surplus appears to be sitting at half of what it should be.
Much-needed big-ticket items like a replacement for the aging Ruth Inch Memorial Pool represented weighty decisions for city councillors to make before the pandemic changed the world. Now, the dollars are even fewer and farther between.
The residents of Ingraham Trail will not be abandoned. The department of Municipal and Community Affairs will fill the gap left by the municipal fire division, as it should.
As Mayor Rebecca Alty aptly pointed out, the issue with providing a service to property owners outside the city limits isn’t just about money. It’s about enough first responders being able to arrive at the scene of an emergency within a set amount of time.
A lot of work goes into the plan that makes sure all areas of the city are covered at all times, and overextending the resources available by sending fire trucks, ambulances and Municipal Enforcement Division (MED) vehicles to the Ingraham Trail isn’t part of that plan. It’s like pulling at a blanket that’s just the right size: a leg or an arm on the opposite side is going to end up exposed.
Devoting municipal resources to Ingraham Trail properties could mean putting other Yellowknifers in harm’s way, full stop. No city councillor wants to wear that. In fact, they’ve sworn an oath to do the opposite, and after the discussion that took place at a meeting Aug. 24, it appears common sense will prevail when they vote on the issue Sept. 14.