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Kamloops curlers are likely to see their fees go up if the City gets its way.

The Kamloops Curling Club hasn't paid property taxes in years, successfully getting exemptions for its status as a non-profit facility but city council is likely to deny its most recent request.

City council may decide Tuesday, Sept. 20, whether or not a list of non-profits in Kamloops will pay property taxes for the next five years.

The Kamloops Curling Club is one of five organizations applying to the City for the exemption. City staff suggested the curling club be denied that status, which would be the first time in several years for the organization.

"For a non-profit society that is here to provide a recreational facility at no cost to taxpayers... it's very frustrating," curling club general manager Rob Nordin said.

The tax bill for the Kamloops Curling Club, at 700 Victoria St., is estimated to $21,312 per year.

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"The reality is the person that pays the property taxes in a business is the end user," Nordin said. "We will have to raise fees that all our members will have to pay for."

Nordin said the club is getting ready to launch its season after sports were largely shut down in B.C. due to COVID-19.

For more than six months last year, the curling club leased space to B.C. Housing so it could be used as a shelter for homeless people. For the curling club, it was an opportunity to make some money in the off-season.

Nordin said the deal was for six months but it was extended until the end of July last year, well before it had to prepare for the curling season. However, the club later turned down the City's request to extend the lease again this July.

"They wanted us to grant another lease to B.C. Housing for at least a year. We said no because our mandate is for curling," Nordin said. "I would say the City wasn't happy about it."

The City had to rush to find more shelter space, granting an indefinite lease to B.C. Housing for the Memorial Arena hockey rink in the meantime.

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By September 2021, the City denied the curling club's request for a 2022 tax exemption.

"All of a sudden, now we pay taxes," Nordin said. "It could have nothing to do with (the lease to B.C. Housing), but the optics are there."

City staff suggested the curling club start paying its taxes because of a policy that says organizations getting the exemptions should not sell liquor, meals or have retail sales. The curling club currently has a liquor licence, along with a pro shop, concession and a pro shop.

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Nordin said its sales, including the money the club makes from renting space for events like weddings, all go back to cover the costs of running the curling rink.

He's open to a negotiation that would tax the portion of the building where the club sells to the public, but he feels that it's unfair to burden the club with taxes on the entire building.

The City owns the land the curling club sits on, while the curling club owns the building itself.

The club's most recent five-year exemption expired in 2021 but Nordin said that wasn't the first time the City approved the club's application. He didn't say how long but pointed out the club hasn't paid property taxes in years because of its status as a non-profit.

Last year, the curling club was denied another tax exemption by the City in a three-to-four vote. Its application will return to council on Sept. 20.

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