Non-residents will get a break when using recreation facilities in Fort Frances.
Town council has agreed to remove the higher rates they were paying for a year.
It’s a trial to see it helps increase membership at the Memorial Sports Centre.
Councillor Andrew Hallikas is among those in support.
“What everybody on the committee wanted to do was try to lessen the load on taxpayers and so by taking in more revenue hopefully that will happen,” says Hallikas.
Councillors Wendy Brunetta and John McTaggart both voted against the idea.
Brunetta sees it being unfair to local taxpayers.
“I really think there is a reason for putting in a non-resident fee in and I support it as a taxpayer and I think a lot of other taxpayers do too,” says Brunetta.
Councillor Rick Wiedenhoeft reluctantly agreed to the idea.
“At the end of the day, if the data does not support the premise I will certainly move to reinstate the non-resident user fees,” says Wiedenhoeft.
Recreation and Culture Manager Aaron Bisson says adding eight new full-time members would offset any revenue loss.
Currently there are about 440 members to the Memorial Sports Centre with around 40 of them being non-residents.
