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City of Williams Lake offering 50 per cent discount on 2022 business license fees

Leftover COVID-19 restart grant funds will cover the fee reduction
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The city of Williams Lake will be disbursing the rest of its COVID-19 restart grant funds through business license fee reductions, hardship grants and the creation of permanent pickleball courts. (Monica Lamb-Yorski photo - Williams Lake Tribune)

With its remaining COVID-19 safe restart grant funds the city of Williams Lake will be offering some financial breaks to businesses and local not-for-profit organizations.

During its regular meeting Tuesday, Dec. 7, city council unanimously approved the incentives which include providing a 50 per cent business license relief in 2022, something it did in 2021.

The relief will cost an estimated $80,000.

Hardship grants in the amount of $1,250 will be available for 20 non-profit groups serving the Williams Lake community and will be given out on a first-come-first-serve basis. Information on how to apply will be posted on the city’s website.

Thirdly, a total of $39,759 will be allocated to remodel a tennis court at Kiwanis Park into a pickleball courts, something the local pickleball club has been asking for.

The remaining $4,414 of the COVID funding will be allocated to the city’s pandemic fund.

“Council initiated this as a whole,” Coun. Scott Nelson said. “We recognize how difficult it is out there.”

In supporting the business community with the license fee reduction, Nelson also encouraged the community to add its support by shopping local.

A year ago in November 2020 the city received $2.6 million from the province’s COVID-19 safe restart program.

This later disbursement of the funds by the city will total about $145,000.

READ MORE: Williams Lake receives $2.6 million from province’s COVID-19 safe restart grant



Monica Lamb-Yorski

About the Author: Monica Lamb-Yorski

A B.C. gal, I was born in Alert Bay, raised in Nelson, graduated from the University of Winnipeg, and wrote my first-ever article for the Prince Rupert Daily News.
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