Communities throughout Alberta are feeling a pinch to their budget as the province rolls back the payments for its Grants in Place of Taxes Program.
The Grants in place of Taxes Programs is a system where the province will provide municipalities a grant rather than paying taxes for a property in the community. This year the province reduced that payment by about 50 per cent.
Director of Corporate Services, Mauricio Reyes, tells the Mail there are five properties in the Town of Drumheller that are owned by the province, that are eligible for the program. These include the provincial court house, the provincial building, a property owned by Fish and Wildlife, and property owned by Alberta Transportation.
“The courthouse has the highest assessment,” said Reyes.
He says normally they would collect about $61,000 from the program, but that has been reduced.
“The province is only paying 50 per cent of what we would normally expect to collect,” he explains. “We knew that would likely be the case, so in our budget, we have an allowance to be able to cover that loss.”
Going forward, the town will have to deal with further reductions in funding from the province, including the Municipal Sustainability Initiative Grants.
“Not this year, but we are going to see action in the next couple of years, that is when we are going to see reductions. That will be 2022 and 2023,” he said. “It will be quite a steep reduction. We are going to be adjusting our 10-year capital plan accordingly.”

Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw returned to the podium on Wednesday, July 28, after nearly a month-long hiatus from her regular COVID updates, to provide new information on the current COVID-19 situation in the province.
Although the number of active and new cases have dropped in comparison to earlier in 2021, these numbers are slowly growing.
“Cases have risen recently, almost entirely in those who have not been fully vaccinated, as we expected would likely happen as people come in close contact with each other again,” Dr. Hinshaw said during the update. “Similar trends are being seen in other provinces that have lifted restrictions. I am pleased that, overall, hospitalizations continue to decline and we will keep watching these closely.”
The Calgary Stampede made a comeback in early July following cancellations in 2020, drawing more than 525,000 attendees.
In a press release dated Tuesday, July 27 the Calgary Stampede shared, “Alberta Health has shared that 71 people likely acquired the virus at the Stampede.”
The province has administered nearly 5.3 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Thursday, July 29. Some 75 per cent of Albertans 12 and older having received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 65 per cent fully vaccinated. In Drumheller-Starland County region, some 70 per cent of residents 12 and older have received at least one dose and nearly 60 per cent are fully vaccinated.
As of Friday, July 30, there were 1,655 active cases across the province. There is currently one active case in the Town of Drumheller, two in Kneehill County, six in Wheatland County, while Starland County currently has zero active cases.