Red Deer Minute: Buffalo Hotel, Downtown Levy, and a Very Merry Christmas

Red Deer Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Red Deer politics

This Week In Red Deer:

• The Audit Committee will meet on Wednesday. No time or agenda is available yet. The Housing and Homelessness Integration Committee meets on Tuesday at 5:00 pm. They will be reviewing a report on an Affordable Housing Needs Assessment Guidebook and receiving a Housing Asset Development Update.
  
  
• Maps for the yearly Red Deer Christmas lights tour are now available. This year, eight neighbourhood-based routes have been drawn up as well as a route through the whole city to see the best Christmas light displays. With the frigid weather this week, it will be great to drive around and see some impressive displays.
  
  
• Speaking of Christmas - it’s this weekend! Thank you to every single one of our readers and supporters who reached out, donated, volunteered, or shared our content this year. We appreciate every single one of you and hope you have a holiday season filled with friends and family. From the team at Common Sense Red Deer, we wish you a very Merry Christmas.

Last Week In Red Deer:

• The City announced that it will be buying and demolishing the Buffalo Hotel and Club Café. This will transform downtown! These buildings have lost so much of their former glory and a long stretch as affordable housing has left them unrecoverable. The City hopes a developer will buy this “prime downtown space for redevelopment”. Financial details of the transaction were not released, which is unfortunate.
  
  
• Speaking of downtown, City Council approved an increase to the Downtown Business Association levy this year. There will be a 4.9% increase, adding roughly $12,500 in revenue to the DBA’s budget. Their intention is to host 250 events downtown next year, after hosting 131 events last year. The DBA also shared that over 50 new businesses have launched downtown in the past year.
  
  
• Even communities surrounding Red Deer did not escape tax increases. Red Deer County Council passed its operating budget this week, with a property tax hike coming in at 3.5%. Their Council was divided on the budget, which only passed 4-3. In Blackfalds, municipal taxes will rise 4.7% next year, and residents of Innisfail will see a 4% hike.

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