Property Taxes A Bit Of Doctor Jekyl And Mr Hyde
It was a bit of good and bad news on the property tax front for the City of Moose Jaw as the quarterly financial report was presented.
On the positive side Council was told tax arrears had now dropped back down to 2018 levels.
Included in this total of tax arrears is the Grant Hall Hotel which sold in the past quarter – according to an advertisement in the Moose Jaw Express the new owners Carpere Hotels are seeking a liquor license. The Grant Hall Hotel at one time had the largest outstanding tax arrears on the City's books.
Growing tax arrears have drawn attention in previous quarterly reports.
Director of Finance Brian Acker Acker said according to the indicators laid out by his department there was nothing out of the ordinary with the City's spending at this point of time.
“There is nothing at this time to draw to your attention,” Acker stated.
Tax-wise though the City was expecting to collect about $128,000 above budget in property taxes but the City took a beating at the Board of Revision in property tax appeals.
“We did suffer some significant commercial appeal losses ”
Successful commercial property tax appeals has been a major thorn in the side for the City even going so far to meet with the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency (SAMA) to find out why.
Despite assurances from SAMA there would be a reversal in successful appeals the assessment losses in the commercial property class continues.
Asked by Councillor Brian Swanson about what the values of the successful tax appeals were Acker said they were in the $280,000 range. The City had set aside 1.4 percent of commercial property taxes as a reserve – approximately $120,000 - to cover losses from successful commercial property tax appeals.
Because the $280,000 loss is higher than the budgeted $120,000 set aside there will be a shortfall of $160,000, he said.