On May 30, 2014, I received two separate envelopes mailed from the City of St. Albert, each one containing a "2014 Property Assessment and Tax Notice" for the property and residence where I live. Each notice was accompanied by a letter signed by the city manager, Patrick Draper.
I was confused. Why did I get two such notices? I read each line, wondering whether maybe my assessment and taxes had been missed last year, or maybe one was for my wife and the other for me? Maybe my taxes had doubled? I read each line comparing it with the same line in the duplicate tax notice, and all appeared exactly alike.
I double-checked the envelopes, each one was mailed separately, and each one had been stamped "Postage paid $00.75".
I checked with some neighbours next. They too got duplicate tax notice letters from the City of St. Albert. They already had checked with other people across the city and found that it seems they all got two letters!
St. Albert has almost 20,000 residential dwellings, and it is a fair guess that at least 15,000 of them are privately owned by people paying such property taxes. So, if 15,000 duplicate tax notices are sent out it will cost the city about $11,250.
Those responsible for the duplicates will probably "blame it on the computer", although all computers are programmed by someone who is responsible for its correct output.
Perhaps the city should try to recover the extra costs, which thus occurred, from those responsible.
Furthermore, a full explanation to city taxpayers seems in order.
A. Zimmer, St. Albert
