Growing the Municipal Assessment Pie: Tourism as Core Economic Infrastructure

After serving a decade on Banff town council, I can tell you this: most councillors genuinely want to do the right thing; but very few truly understand how property assessment works. And that really matters.

 

Because how councils see and understand assessments, is how they frame the economy under their care.

 

With municipal elections Monday, the coming weeks are critical for business owners, especially those in tourism, . The best time to shape a council’s thinking is before they set their first budget and priorities.

 

Don’t wait for them to come to you.   Councils need to hear that the goal isn’t to tax harder, it’s to grow smarter.

 

How Property Taxes Really Work

 

Here’s what most people miss: municipalities don’t set property values,  they set tax rates.

 

Assessments are determined by market performance and earning potential. When businesses perform well, full lodges, busy bistros, and an active Mainstreet, property values rise. That growth gives councils more fiscal room without raising mill rates.  

 

In tourism-based communities, this dynamic is especially powerful. Alberta resort communities have some of the highest-performing commercial assessments in Alberta, which allows councils to keep residential tax rates well below peer averages. 

 

The opposite is also true. When investment slows, through red tape, slow permitting, planning misalignment, or lack of regulatory evolution. assessments stagnate. Municipalities still need to fund public safety, infrastructure, and utilities, so they resort to tax hikes during annual panicked budget sessions, that couldn't possibly replace the hard work of actually creating regulatory frameworks that attract investment. That’s not fiscal management, it’s slow-drip economic self-sabotage.

 

A 2024 University of Calgary study found that higher non-residential tax rates directly reduce business investment, while the CFIB recently reported that more than half of Alberta’s small business owners see property taxes as their most harmful cost.  Sustainable budgets come from growth and competitiveness, not higher mill rates.

 

Since 2019, Alberta’s visitor economy has added over $100 million in new commercial assessments annually, growing 8.36% per year, better than the TSX. That’s the real meaning of growing the pie.  But even this exceptional performance will not be sustained without investment friendly and assessment savvy councils.

 

Tourism as Economic Infrastructure

 

Tourism is one of Alberta’s most responsive economic engines. Every booking, meal, and tank of gas helps fund the infrastructure residents rely on: roads, parks, water systems, community services and public safety.

 

When councils recognize tourism as economic infrastructure, they can start measuring and delivering tangible long-term returns for their community.  

 

Know your revenue source intimately. Understand and report on non-residential assessment as part of the annual budget process.

 

Track performance. Monitor hotel occupancy, business licences, and regional visitor spending as fiscal health indicators.

 

Plan and reinvest. Align zoning, permitting, and infrastructure spending to support investment and yield long-term returns. Open doors for partnerships.

 

Stay connected. Work closely with DMOs, chambers, and operators to align priorities and maintain accountability.

 

Councils across Alberta need to take a different approach to building long-term fiscal strength and resilience. One led by the challenging work of strategic partner alignment, and assigning accountability for delivering the regulatory pillars that support high functioning and investment friendly communities. Not six weeks of annual budget panic led by administrations whose expertise is far from the day-to-day realities of running businesses.  

 

Now’s the Time

 

Municipal elections are when new ideas take root. Don’t let your new council treat tourism or investment friendliness like an afterthought.

 

Take the time next week to meet, write, or call newly elected officials and remind them:

 

When businesses thrive, assessments grow.

When assessments grow, everyone wins.