Paintearth county council will apply for the Property Tax Education Requisition Credit (PERC) program to offset the amount of education tax the county would have paid to the province for taxes owed in 2019-2020 from the companies that are now considered by administration to be uncollectible.
The decision was made at the regular council meeting on Tues. Nov. 22.
“This is important,” said Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Michael Simpson, “because otherwise we’d have to fund that requisition amount to the province out of general tax revenue, essentially forcing all taxpayers to pay the education tax amounts that some companies aren’t paying.”
Total tax write-offs for 2019 are equal to $156,403.27 and the county will be applying for a PERC credit worth $13,938.25. Total tax write-offs for 2020 are equal to $202,128.48 and the county will be applying for a PERC credit worth $16,064.32.
This is often an issue that affects many municipalities and write-offs are necessary to get the small amount of education tax back, said Simpson.
“In order to get this small amount back, it’s noted we have to write off a number of property tax amounts to qualify those properties. The total amount of property tax we must write off is often upwards of 10 times higher than the amount we get back.”
Halkirk 2 Wind Power Project amendment
The County of Paintearth was given notice that the Capital Power Corporation has filed applications for amendments to the approved wind power project in the Halkirk area at the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC).
Recently the county has opted to require developers to get their AUC approvals before coming to the county for development permits, said Simpson.
“We’ve had misunderstandings in previous years, and as a result of those experiences, we’ve streamlined our process to ask that the AUC approval already be granted prior to seeking development permit approvals from the County.”
If the project is approved there can be many benefits, said Simpson.
“To the county, it offers more property tax revenue and also offers participating landowners some additional revenue. It may also lead to some additional jobs within the county as service and field technician work for the wind farm. This project in particular is one of three new wind farms underway in Paintearth,” said Simpson.
Promotional banner
Council was able to get a first look at the design for a new banner advertising the county.
“The banner highlights some comfortable images and feelings people in the area are familiar with,” said Simpson.
The banner will be displayed at community markets where the County of Paintearth has made a financial contribution to some of the market’s costs.
A further policy on which market groups will be able to receive funding and how much will come forward to council at a later date.
Sarah Baker
ECA Review
