Chris Clegg
The plight of High Prairie Lawrence Apartments owner Cameron Munro brings into question just what the role of municipal governments – all governments for that matter – should be.
Munro is asking for a three-year tax break or forgiveness. In short, he is locked into a mortgage agreement where he cannot raise rent to meet expenses. Coupled with crime adding additional expenses, he is facing a financial crisis, he told council at its Feb. 25 meeting.
To further compound Munro’s problems, his tax bill rose 80 per cent from the previous year.
What did council do? They tabled the matter. No offer of help whatsoever.
Fast forward to the March 11 meeting. It was Councillor Judy Stenhouse who questioned the tax bill. To paraphrase, Stenhouse, who was absent Feb. 25, asked why Munro’s bill was so high (80 per cent increase) when council raised taxes 2-3 per cent.
Good question, and not one any other member of council thought to ask two weeks previous.
There are two points to consider.
First, it is the responsibility of the property owner to appeal his taxes if he deems the bill inappropriate. Not that it does any good. The elected officials line up to take the side of the tax assessor and rarely listen to the property owner. Higher assessment means more money in council’s coffers to spend.
Second, as written in a report to council by CAO David Joy, “The dilemma for council is that if tax forgiveness is approved, then the Town’s property owners and businesses will experience an additional increase in their property taxes to compensate. If council forgives this particular apartment building, then the landlords of the other apartments or condo buildings will demand equal treatment and seek similar tax forgiveness.”
No doubt about that! The owners of Green Acres and Aspen Court would literally be banging down the doors, as well as other business owners, if council chose to forgive.
But, what Joy does not address is the fact that something may be amiss. It does seem the assessment in the Lawrence Apartments matter is out of whack. It brings into question council’s first and foremost responsibility: to help the people it serves.
For argument’s sake, let’s assume something went amiss with the Lawrence Apartments assessment. Does that give council the God-given right to take the extra money and run simply because the owner did not appeal his taxes? Just who is council working for? Where is the fairness?
When a problem arises from a citizen, government should be ready and willing to help and not take the heavy-handed approach. It is shameful to hide behind the skirts of legislation and place the blame squarely on the property owner. If the assessment is incorrect, it is the fault of council and they should be ready and willing to fix it.
Council did decide to look into the matter to determine proper procedure in regard to a new assessment being completed. Stay tuned.
But remember, only Stenhouse stepped forward to offer help before the rest of the council agreed to investigate the matter.