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Council inches closer to Kam Lake tax relief
Bylaw would forgive a portion of enormous tax bills handed last summer

Randi Beers
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, November 19, 2014

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
City council appears to be on board to offer a one-time forgiveness to a portion of property owners who saw their tax bills skyrocket this year, most of them in Kam Lake.

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Coronation Drive, shown here, is a Kam Lake street with no sidewalks, only four street lights and ditches full of brush. At least one business owner wants to see the city focus on service improvements to their neighbourhood. - Randi Beers/NNSL photo

The proposed bylaw would apply to taxes on any residential property that saw a general assessment increase this year of 10.74 per cent or more and a tax bill that climbed by more than $1,200. Commercial properties would enjoy tax forgiveness if their assessments were up by 31.28 per cent and the tax bill was up by $1,200.

The bylaw would affect 130 residential, commercial and industrial properties that were handed property assessments earlier this year - the first in seven years - that were, in some cases, double than what they were previously.

In total, the city would be on the line to forgive $139,489.95 worth of property taxes. Administration plans to find the money in its general fund surplus, currently projected at $4 million.

Sandra Elliot, co-owner of Fiberglass North, says her business "very much" has felt the shock of this year's higher assessment.

"You can't pass that on to customers - some of these people out here got a 70 per cent increase and you can't recover that," she said. Her business is eligible for a portion of the tax forgiveness and while she says the rebate offers some help, it doesn't solve the underlying problems.

"We want something done out here," she said.

"Out of all the taxes they collect, they spend nothing out here - we feel like a cash cow."

Elliot pointed out Kam Lake lacks sidewalks, paved roads, water and sewer lines, streetlights and has ditches full of trees and weeds.

"They are beautifying our city - don't get me wrong, I'm for city beautification - but we look like a dump out here," she said.

Northwest Territories municipalities don't have the authority to forgive property tax debt, so its enforcement would require approval from the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA). During Monday's Municipal Services Committee meeting, Coun. Adrian Bell asked administration to gauge whether it expects MACA to support the city, a question Mayor Mark Heyck shot down as unfair.

"We can't ask administration to speculate on that," he said, causing Bell to object.

"We do have a relationship with the GNWT to consider here and we can't approve bylaws we know will be batted down by a minister," said Bell. "That would be unethical."

He asked again how confident administration is that the territorial government will approve the city's request.

"I'm not saying (MACA minister Robert C. McLeod) will approve this, I can't comment on that," answered SAO Dennis Kefalas.

"But we do have comments from MACA saying the current legislation is somewhat antiquated and does not meet the needs of a city our size. We also do have a very good rapport with them."

Coun. Rebecca Alty echoed these concerns, adding the deadline for paying property taxes is Dec. 31, so the city is working under a tight deadline to get government approval for the bylaw.

That said, she indicated she supports administration's recommendation.

"It's impossible to budget for a 30-to-100 per cent tax increase and I think we need to be giving people a better warning next time," she said.

"This is an opportunity to support our long-standing businesses who are really the backbone of our community. Everything is interconnected - when we increase taxes out there (in Kam Lake) it increases the cost of goods and services for residents."

Couns. Bob Brooks, Phil Moon Son and Linda Bussey also said they plan to support the recommendations. Coun. Dan Wong was not present for the debate and Coun. Niels Konge excused himself from the discussion, citing a potential conflict. His business, Konge Construction Ltd, stands to receive $1,454.05 in property tax forgiveness if council passes the bylaw.

Along with the bylaw, administration is also recommending council request an amendment to territorial legislation so the city can "phase in" large property increases over multi-year periods in the future.

The recommendation points to a Regina bylaw that phased in 2013 property tax increases as a possible model. Instead of forcing a one-year jump, taxes will rise in Regina by one-third of the full increase after the first year, two-thirds the second and reach the full increase by the third year. Council is scheduled to debate the recommendation and give the bylaw first reading during Monday's regular council meeting.

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