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Taxpayers and grant funding pay off Bold Center millions

After 10 years and $48 million in payments, the Bold Center in Lac La Biche County is mortgage-free.

LAC LA BICHE - After 10 years and $48 million in payments, the Bold Center in Lac La Biche County is mortgage-free. 

Lac La Biche County officials made the final payment — $3 million — on June 15, ending their semi-annual payment plan to the Alberta Capital Finance Authority on the debenture that began in 2010, a  year before the community's 250,000 square foot recreation facility opened its doors. The payments to the arms-length provincial government lending institution included almost $1.5 million in interest on the loan.

The debenture was paid down using a combination of taxpayer dollars and provincial grant funding from the Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) grant.

The money has been well-spent, said Lac La Biche County Mayor Omer Moghrabi last week.

“The Bold Center has been one of Lac La Biche County’s best investments in our community’s health and wellness,” said the mayor.

Community input

When the Bold Center project was first discussed, the expenditure forced a community-drive petition signed by 1,100 people that resulted in a plebiscite where voters cast ballots whether or not to support the $48 million expenditure. The results from the 2009 plebiscite showed 70 per cent were in favour of going ahead.

A large part of the decision-making process to move forward was due to the provincial government's commitment in 2009  to allocate $40 million to the community over the next 10 years through the MSI grant. An additional commitment by then MLA and Alberta Minister of Municipal Affairs Ray Danyluk to build a high school onto the Bold Center using only provincial funding also helped the project to move ahead. That local support also materialized in dollars, as almost $5 million in corporate donations were raised to help reach the $53 million overall price tag for the project.

According to figures collected by the POST from Alberta Municipal Affairs, Lac La Biche County has received approximately $36 million in MSI grant funding since 2009. A total of $38.369 million has been distributed to the municipality since the MSI program began in 2007.

Although the MSI funding was part of the plans, municipal officials took out the debenture as a way to fund ongoing projects and to ensure the money would be in place.

Last week, Moghrabi explained the debenture and the grant funding as two separate funding streams.

"At times we used the MSI and at times we used what we had in general revenues," the mayor told the POST, explaining that some MSI instalments would go into the municipality's general operating reserves to be used for other projects, leaving the debenture to pick up the Bold Center's financial obligations. "It was always a balance ... it was part of our budget to manage over those 10 years."

With no payments remaining on the debenture, the mayor says that balance will swing in favour of residents in the years to come.

“Moreover, the extra budget dollars from no longer needing to pay off the facility couldn’t have come at a better time: our municipality now has more flexibility to cover shortfalls and continue providing high levels of service in these uncertain economic times," he said.

After COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, Lac La Biche County councillors plan to host a mortgage burning event at the Bold Center to celebrate.

 


Rob McKinley

About the Author: Rob McKinley

Rob has been in the media, marketing and promotion business for 30 years, working in the public sector, as well as media outlets in major metropolitan markets, smaller rural communities and Indigenous-focused settings.
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