Investigation requested after Chestermere tries to give landowner $110K tax refund Controversial Tax Refund Attempt and Property Cleanup By Stephen Jeffrey
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hestermere residents have been left bewildered as the city faces another investigation, this time following the city council’s persistent efforts to grant a substantial tax refund exceeding $100,000 to a landowner. Concurrently, city employees are executing cleanup operations on the privately owned land, with the property owner asserting that he bears no cost for these services.
Taxation Troubles Jarnail Sihota, the property owner in question, has voiced his concerns over soaring property taxes despite his constrained ability to develop the 18-acre parcel. In 2009, when the city annexed the land, Sihota’s property taxes amounted to just under $4,000 annually. By 2010, this figure had surged to $20,000, and in 2022, he was required to pay a staggering $37,000. Sihota contends that he brought this matter to Mayor Colvin’s attention earlier this year, leading to meetings with the mayor and deputy mayor, which set the wheels in motion for the potential refund.
Calls for Transparency Official Administrator Doug Lagore, highlighting the absence of responses from city officials to requests for clarification, has quashed council’s latest endeavor to initiate the $110,000 tax refund. This refund was intended to cover approximately 25 percent of the owner’s payments spanning the past 12 years. City Response In response, Lagore has taken the step of requesting Kim Wallace, Chestermere’s City Director of Corporate Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver to appoint an Services, commented, “The owner came to our council impartial third-party investigator to delve into this complex and asked for this injustice to be looked into. Council matter. McIver’s office has confirmed that the minister is determined they had been severely overcharged.” presently reviewing Lagore’s request. “Unfortunately, the (official administrator) has put a stop to the partial refund,” she added. City in the Spotlight Should this investigation proceed, it would mark the An Unresolved Issue second provincial probe launched since Mayor Jeff Throughout the summer, council made three attempts, Colvin and his council assumed office in 2021. The first including two in closed-door meetings, to pass resolutions investigation, a rare municipal inspection, is currently a authorizing the refund. However, each of these resolutions subject of legal contention initiated by the city. This initial was vetoed by Lagore, adding to the growing controversy. investigation culminated in the province issuing a dozen binding directives to Chestermere in March, mandating Demands for Clarity compliance. Failure to adhere to these directives could Lagore, who was appointed by the province over a year potentially result in the removal of the mayor, councillors, ago to monitor the council’s decision-making, suggests or city officials. that the new investigation focus on council members’ actions concerning the property. This would encompass The Contested Land dealings with the landowner, participation in administrative At the heart of this ongoing controversy lies a property meetings, and the city’s undertaking of remedial work on that formerly housed a defunct waterpark in Chestermere. the property. Situated beside a Highway 1 interchange on the city’s eastern fringes, the land has remained unused for the better As this investigation unfolds, Chestermere residents await part of the past two decades. Allegedly, this dormancy is due clarity on this complex matter, alongside ongoing inquiries to restrictions imposed by Alberta Transportation, which has raising questions about the city’s governance and decisionearmarked the site for an upcoming highway realignment. making processes. Chestermere Anchor News Magazine: Home Grown, Well Anchored, Reaching far beyond Chestermere’s Shores
October 23, 2023
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