Canmore residents who cannot occupy their home due to flood damage will receive tax relief from the municipality this year.
Council voted to approve property tax relief for Cougar Creek flood-affected homes that are unoccupied at a special meeting at the end of July.
While council supported not collecting municipal property taxes, it did not vote to forgive the whole monthly tax bill, which includes the provincial education requisition.
Canmore politicians have spent considerable effort in distinguishing between the two types of tax on property tax bills and Councillor Hans Helder said for that reason he could not support relief for the entire amount.
“We have worked really hard to distinguish between provincial and municipal taxes and I think we run the risk of diluting that message by doing this,” he said.
Helder said by providing tax relief for provincial taxes, Canmore could put the provincial government in an awkward situation when it comes to other communities also affected by the flood.
Helder made the motion to consider only municipal taxes, but it wasn’t unanimous with Councillors Jim Ridley, Sean Krausert and Gordie Miskow voting against it.
As of July 21, there are 21 homes in an unoccupied state along Cougar Creek. Chief Administrative Officer Lisa de Soto indicated the Town’s assessor did not recommend re-assessing the properties at this time.
She said tax assessors across the province intend to meet and come up with an approach to calculate assessments for 2014 tax rolls that is consistent for all of Alberta.
“Any tax relief this year is at the discretion of council and not based on a new assessment,” de Soto said.
Krausert proposed a further motion to direct administration to bring back recommendations to reduce taxes for properties along Cougar Creek that have lost land due to erosion.
“I think people in their homes should pay taxes . . . however, the amount that they pay is always determined by the value of their properties,” he said. “We have a responsibility to recognize that loss and we have the power to do so.”
Council, however, did not support the motion for various reasons. Coun. Joanna McCallum commented the change in assessed property value will be determined through the assessment process.
“I can appreciate the loss of value and use or personal enjoyment, but I think it is an onerous requirement on administration to quantify the extent of the loss of value,” added Ridley.
