Kneehill County council approved the cancellation of $63,269.66 in tax arrears on industrial and linear tax accounts for five companies during the regular Tuesday, October 11 council meeting.Along with cancelling the tax arrears, council also directed administration to apply for the Provincial Education Requisition (PERC) and Designated Industrial Requisition (DIRC) credits to recuperate the provincial portion of these levies, which were already paid to the province by the municipality, when applications open in January 2023.
“In anticipation of this situation, the (Kneehill County) Operating Budget for 2022 provided for a $1 million cancellation budget,” explained Property Tax officer Caroline Siverson during the meeting. “Completing this cancellation prior to October 31 will avoid any penalty accrual, which artificially inflates the year-end surplus, if any.”
Ms. Siverson noted the four companies to which the industrial accounts belonged-Manitok Energy Inc., Lexin Resources Ltd., Arrow Point Oil and Gas Ltd., and Canyon Oil and Gas Corporation-have all been dissolved and their remaining assets have been turned over to the Orphan Well Association (OWA).
The 2022 levies for these accounts total $33,813.35, including $5,140.87 in provincial education requisitions and $134.76 in designated industrial requisitions.
Administration also requested to cancel $29,456.31 in 2022 tax arrears for three Trident Exploration sites. PERC and DIRC credits were applied for and collected in 2021 on these tax rolls; however, Ms. Siverson noted levies were incurred on an additional 30 active sites which have also been turned over to the OWA. Administration requested approval to apply for these credits, totalling $2,788.99, in January 2023.
Ms. Siverson noted Trident Exploration has gone into receivership and administration has been working with its legal counsel to collect a portion of these funds from the receiver on behalf of Trident. However, despite their efforts, no tax payments have been made since the receiver took over management in May 2019 and administration is currently waiting for advice and direction from the courts.
Council acknowledged its appreciation for the efforts administration has put in to clear these uncollectable arrears from its ledger. Cancellation and application of provincial credits was unanimously approved by council.
