Cruze disheartened by decision to keep franchise fees the same

Brandon Cruze says he's disheartened by town council's decision to keep franchise fees the same from Atco Gas and Fortis Alberta.

One of the planks in his town council election platform this fall was to reduce the fees charged back to residents, who are already facing an inflation rate of 4.4 per cent. His opinion hasn't changed.

"Quite honestly, this is another tax, and we do have ways of diversifying our income," says Cruze. "I feel that if we start doing that, we could start reducing those fees."

He outlined his ideas on how to increase revenue during the election. They include increasing taxes and business licence fees for nonresidential businesses owners, and he sees merit in adding a hotel tax.

The town currently generates over $3 million from the utility franchise fees.

"We don't need to find all $3 million right away," he says. "Even if we find a portion of it by diversifying our income, we can take some of that revenue and start offsetting the percentage we're charging them. Ultimately, it comes right off of our bills."

He says people need to remember wages do not keep pace with inflation.

"We don't see raises to our income to match inflation, so as inflation continues to rise, we just continue to spend more. That's why I ran on it, to make life a little more affordable, step-by-step."

Since last week's decision by council, Cruze has met with one town councillor to discuss the issue.

The town charges Fortis a 17 per cent gross distribution fee and ATCO a 20 per cent fee. In turn, they are charged back to utility users in the form of riders, clearly identified on utility bills.