Arthur Milnes
Northern News Services

NNSL (Aug 28/98) - City council won't be stepping in to aid the Inukshuk Housing Co-operative with a grant.

The co-op owes the city more than $400,000 in back taxes and other charges built up over the last three years.

All told, it is in the red to the tune of about $500,000.

Representatives were blunt Monday, telling councillors their organization had not been managed properly in recent years.

But, they said, Inukshuk is now working in cooperation with the Federal Co-Operative Housing Stabilization Fund and they can be saved from bankruptcy.

Council would not grant their request for just over $70,000, an amount Inukshuk says is equal to their arrears penalties at an interest rate of eight per cent. Yellowknife currently charges almost 24 per cent a year on late charges.

And, the fact their group had paid more than $30,000 than they had to in city taxes in the early 1990s -- due to being classified incorrectly -- was also raised.

This money will not be returned because the co-op did not appeal the taxation in the specified time period.

Some councillors felt they would be setting a potentially dangerous precedent if they granted this request. All told, the city is owed almost $4 million in back taxes.

Councillors Kevin O'Reilly and Ben McDonald voted to grant the money to the group, arguing co-op housing is a concept the city should support.

Other members stuck by the city administration's recommendation to reject the request.

This argument didn't sit well with Inukshuk representatives.

"For the lack of an investment of $70,000 they could have helped 45 families (who live at the co-op)," Inukshuk president Dennis Desai said after council made their decision.

A motion to award the Inukshuk the $32,000 they were over-charged was also defeated.

The co-op and fund representatives have now also met with officials from the NWT Housing Corporation, who hold the co-op's $6 million mortgage, to seek assistance with their re-structuring proposal. It will likely be a few weeks before they get an answer.

Without help from the housing corporation, Desai said, the co-op would probably go under.