City council debated and rejected seven property tax relief applications during its Dec. 6 meeting.
Prior to council moving to an in-camera debate, St. Albert's city assessor Stephen Bannerman told council that the taxation department receives "many" tax relief requests every year, "due primarily to the imposition of tax penalties for late payment."
"Administration can only cancel or reduce tax penalties if the city has administratively made an error, omission, or misrepresentation," Bannerman's slide-show presentation reads.
Under the Municipal Government Act (MGA), only council has the authority to grant leniency on property taxes in circumstances where the city has not made a mistake. Each year, council considers a handful of applications for tax relief and makes decisions based on "compassionate grounds."
"When considering requests, council would take into consideration the following principles: fairness and equity to all taxpayers; simplicity, transparency, and efficiency of the tax levy process; sustainability of municipal revenue; and predictability and stability," Bannerman's presentation reads.
In total, the seven applications council considered this year sought a total of $17,961.50 in relief, with one application seeking $15,640.24 alone.
The details of each application, including names, exact addresses, and underlying circumstances are kept confidential by the city. However, all seven applications were seeking cancellation of incurred late penalties, according to a document included in Dec. 6 council meeting agenda.
In an interview, Coun. Mike Killick said council had a "good debate" on the applications this year, but for reasons of balance and equity to all taxpayers, ultimately no applications were approved.
“Compassionate grounds is a very narrow, very distinct view we can take on it,” Killick said, adding, “hospitalization and sickness would be some of the key areas.”
“We look at determining if there are any that are really true compassionate grounds, versus what the rest of the residents of St. Albert have been able to do. Many of them are in the same situations as the applicants that had applied."
Likewise, Coun. Wes Brodhead told The Gazette that council strives for balance when considering each application.
“Every case gets a fulsome review," Brodhead said. "We talk about each one but the question, again, is a balance of equating compassion with those who manage to, despite very trying circumstances, meet their commitment to the city."
"It’s always an interesting discussion because there’s what’s allowed under the MGA and then there’s always an equity question.”
For Coun. Shelley Biermanski, the compassionate grounds framework is limiting and difficult to apply on a one-size-fits-all basis.
"How do you make compassion straightforward?" Biermanski said in an interview. "You have to have a measure of what is compassion to everyone, which is a very, very difficult thing to answer."
Biermanski added she wished council had other tools to use for considering the tax relief applications, and wasn't happy with the result of council's in-camera deliberations. She said she felt the city's penalties for late payment on property taxes "climbed up really, really fast," and that she may look at council's options to change the penalties in the future.
According to Bannerman's presentation, the late payment penalty is $200 if received after July 1; an additional $300 if received after August 1; and another $300 if received after Oct. 1.
Last year, council approved one of the 13 total property tax relief applications, for an amount of $123.94.
Two of last year's applications represented 115 units from the Citadel Mews West seniors home, which was devastated by a fire that spring. The total relief requested for the units combined was $263,002.93.
Under city council’s property tax relief policy, it states that structural fires are not a permissible reason for requesting relief from an annual property tax.
“Payment of outstanding property taxes is an expense item typically covered within a fire insurance policy. Therefore, property owners should seek property tax coverage first from their fire insurance policy,” the council policy says.
