SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - City councillors were split down the middle Tuesday when 30 of Yellowknife's green thumbs assembled at city hall to protest the city's decision to start charging the Yellowknife Community Garden Collective more than $3,000 in property taxes.

Dwayne Wohlgemuth stands outside the Old Town community garden run by the Yellowknife Community Garden Collective Tuesday before he made his way to city hall where he and 30 other gardeners asked the city to exempt the gardens from property taxes. - Nicole Veerman/NNSL photo

Councillor Shelagh Montgomery was the first to voice her support for the collective at the Municipal Services Committee meeting, suggesting the group not only be tax exempt in years to come, but administration find a way to cover the cost of the 2010 property tax bill.

"It seems to me the garden collective has existed and has been running exceptionally well for 15 years. Why do we need to change the way that it's operating all of a sudden?" she said, pointing out the collective provides an important service to the city by not only making garden space available to residents, but also by donating 25 per cent of their harvest to organizations, like the Salvation Army and the Centre for Northern Families.

"Obviously there's $3,000 somewhere that could be found."

Councillors Mark Heyck, Paul Falvo and Amanda Mallon supported Montgomery's motion, while Bob Brooks, David Wind, Cory Vanthuyne and Lydia Bardak opposed to idea of exempting the organization.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem broke the tie, voting in favour of tax exemption, and pointed out the city has always supported the collective's efforts.

Other organizations exempt from property taxes are the Shooting Club, the Ski Club and the Golf Club.

Brooks suggested that instead of tax exemption, the collective should apply for special grant funding before the Jan. 10 deadline.

He said because the budget has been passed with the 3.99 per cent property tax increase, he doesn't want to give exemption, raising taxes again by .014 per cent.

Dwayne Wohlgemuth, who spoke on behalf of the collective, said the collective is opposed to paying taxes with city money.

"We are definitely not supportive of borrowing from Peter to pay Peter," he said. "That's not sustainable."

In the 15 years the collective has been operating in the city, it has never been taxed. "When we initially received the invoice (in June 2010) we thought it was a mistake," Wohlgemuth said.

By the time the group realized it wasn't a clerical error, it was too late to apply for a tax exemption, forcing them to present their case to the city.

Carl Bird, director of corporate services, said the decision to begin taxing the collective came after a review of the city's land lease processes.

"Land leases don't contain any phraseology that exempts them from (property) tax," he said. "There are provisions in every lease that says leases are subject to any federal, territorial or municipal legislation, so this was catch up."

The collective has two leases with the city, each in the amount of $100 – one for their gardens on Kam Lake Road and one for the Old Town garden on School Draw Avenue.

Wohlgemuth said the collective doesn't have a $3,019 surplus to pay for taxes in 2011, since garden fees are set in the fall and are only collected once per year.

In order to make up the revenue, the collective, which is made up of more than 120 Yellowknifers, would have to more than double their user fees.

Currently, a 10 to 12 square metre plot is $20 and member fees are $10. Wohlgemuth said in 2010, the group collected $2,490 in fees.

Van Tighem's tie breaking vote will bring Montgomery's motion for tax exemption to Monday's council meeting, where it will go through three more votes.

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