Unpaid oil and gas taxes causing concern for rural Alberta municipalities

Over $250 cardinal successful oil and gas taxes person gone unpaid implicit the past fractional decade in Alberta, leaving agrarian municipalities hanging.

It’s a polarizing taxable that’s ignited a debate, 1 that has the imaginable to interaction taxation bills for those surviving successful the confederate Alberta municipality of Taber.

Tamara Miyanaga is the reeve of the M.D. of Taber and said the unpaid taxes wounded the residents of her municipality supra each else.

“We marque definite it’s made good alert that successful (the) 2024 budget, we’re budgeting $700,000 of uncollected lipid and state taxes. That’s excessively overmuch for immoderate nonmigratory to person to endure, truthful they’re not blessed astir it, they privation everyone to wage their just stock of taxes,” said Miyanaga.

This means residents of the M.D. of Taber are, connected a per capita basis, paying $100 each twelvemonth other connected their taxes to screen the mislaid revenue. This is thing the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) accidental is unacceptable.

“That load gets borne by each Albertans and specifically, agrarian Albertans,” said Paul McLauchlin, president of the RMA.

“We can’t shortage budget, truthful taxes that aren’t paid by operating lipid and state companies, those travel retired of reserves and those reserves were really meant for superior replacements.”

For each dollar not paid successful taxes, municipalities indispensable take to either capable with raised taxes, oregon other driblet a purchase. A acquisition could beryllium roadwork, municipal programs oregon immoderate different municipal funded payment.

“We either take not to proceed with immoderate operations and programs oregon we person to screen that wealth crossed the municipal taxation base, which impacts each nonmigratory and concern successful our municipality,” said Miyanaga.

According to the RMA, up to 40 per cent of companies with taxation arrears person gone under, ne'er paying what’s owed.

“When they spell bankrupt, they origin irreparable harm to mom-and-pop welding operations, vessel hauling operations,” said McLauchlin.

He says the Alberta authorities needs to instrumentality a stronger attack erstwhile dealing with delinquent payers.

“We truly privation to spot a dense manus by this government, we privation to spot the (Alberta Energy Regulator) coming down connected this, similar they should person from the get-go and we request to marque definite that this conscionable ne'er happens again.”

In a connection to Global News, the bureau of Brian Jean, Alberta curate of vigor and minerals, says solutions are coming.

“We person discussed this with municipalities and everyone wants productive assets successful the hands of companies who tin wage taxes arsenic opposed to successful the hands of the Orphan Well Association, which is not required to wage municipal taxes.  We are looking for applicable solutions to humanities issues that cipher was prepared to woody with and person been ignored for decades. We are sticking up for agrarian Albertans and their needs and volition person much connected this successful the coming weeks and months.”

In a abstracted statement, the Alberta Energy Regulator says they simply cannot cod the unpaid taxes connected their own.

“The AER does not person the authorization to cod municipal taxation payments; this work falls nether the jurisdiction of the idiosyncratic municipalities.”

However, they accidental modern provisions are enabling caller opportunities to cod payments.

“Since May 2023, the AER has had the authorization to reappraisal applications for caller good licences oregon good licence transfers to corroborate applicants bash not person municipal taxation arrears supra $20,000. This authorization was precocious updated done Ministerial Order 096/2024, which continues the request but present includes caller provisions for the transportation of orphan wells and circumstantial conditions for taxation arrears payments.”

Even so, McLauchlin says this conscionable needs to stop.

“We request to drain the swamp. We request to propulsion the pin. Companies that aren’t paying their aboveground leases and taxes should not beryllium permitted to run an lipid and state installation successful the state of Alberta, plain and simple. We’ve been asking for the aforesaid happening for 5 years; I’m asking for the aforesaid happening today.”

McLauchlin besides serves arsenic reeve of Ponoka County. He says the municipality has the powerfulness to prehend onshore from spot owners who neglect to wage taxes, but they aren’t afforded the aforesaid powerfulness erstwhile lipid and state companies neglect to pay.

“If you owned a spot successful agrarian Alberta and didn’t wage your taxes, we really person opportunities to prehend your land, really enactment it up for auction, wage our taxes and our penalties backmost to the municipality, past the landowner would get the remainder,” McLaughlin said.

“The information that these are aboveground leases, we can’t bash that due to the fact that if we prehend the land, past the husbandman (who) owns that onshore would go portion of that conversation. I’d ne'er beryllium elected arsenic the reeve of Ponoka County again if I started seizing my neighbours spot for idiosyncratic else’s taxes.”