The Municipality of Rhineland's proposed expanded Special Services bylaw for the L.U.D. of Gretna is back up for debate, two years after Council put it on the backburner.
Recommended by the L.U.D. committee in 2019, Council tabled the proposal in early 2020 following a plea from Mennonite Collegiate Institute to hold off on any changes for two years, citing the private Christian school wasn't prepared to absorb the financial hardships the levy would impose.
Under the proposal, presently exempt properties like schools and churches would fall subject to the levy in an effort to have more users share in the cost of local services like street lighting and fire protection.
"The L.U.D. committee and Council said we'd bring it back, so we're bringing it back," said Reeve Don Wiebe.
"Most other communities have these kinds of bylaws, and it's a way of helping distribute maintenance costs," he added.
Additional changes to the bylaw also included more services like highway construction and maintenance as well as snow removal.
"I think Council has to find a way to address this issue," said Wiebe when asked if Council is set on finalizing the bylaw this time around.
A public hearing on the proposal is set of November 16th at the municipality's office in Altona.