Cold Lake, AB – The City of Cold Lake has submitted its list of agreements with the federal government to the Government of Alberta, as per the province’s request. 

“We hope that this is an opportunity for the province to learn just to what extent municipalities are called on to facilitate programs and services which support federal initiatives and benefit federal organizations,” Mayor Copeland said. “We also hope it sheds light on just how little help we receive to do so. I’m not sure if the same is true across the country, but here in northeastern Alberta, we are seeing fractions of a penny on the dollar when it comes to federal investment, especially considering the taxes and royalties levied on the industry in our region.”

Most concerning for Cold Lake is the ongoing Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) dispute, which first began in 2012. The City of Cold Lake ultimately won a favourable decision in the federal court, in which the Government of Canada was found to be unreasonable in the decision it made, however, the issue remains unresolved. This has meant that the City has had to continue to dispute the PILT payments for each year since, hoping for a final judgement that will be applied to all disputed tax years, and be used to determine proper payments in the coming years.

The Government of Alberta is still waiting for nearly $4 million for their portion of the PILT for the Education Tax requisition as a result.

The dispute centres on the assessment valuation of CFB Cold Lake. Whereas all property owners in the City of Cold Lake pay taxes based on the assessed value of their properties, the Federal Government is required to pay PILT payments based on the assessed value of the federal property (CFB Cold Lake) that is located in the City of Cold Lake. The City of Cold Lake maintains that the federal government has been shorting its PILT payments by roughly $1.2 million each year, totaling approximately $14.8 million (exclusive of penalties and fees) in PILT payments owed since 2013.

This is because the Federal Government continues to argue that CFB Cold Lake should be assessed as if it is an un-serviced, remote property. The City of Cold Lake maintains that this does not make sense, and the Federal Government needs to pay its fair share to the City and the Province of Alberta’s education tax requisitions. In order to raise $1.2 million, the City of Cold Lake previously has had to raise property taxes by about five per cent to fund the Government of Canada’s short payment.

“It’s very disheartening to see the lengths to which the federal government will go to get away with not following the rules they made for themselves,” Copeland said. “When large cities put pressure on the feds for extra funding, they tend to be heard. But us out here in small communities – we can’t even seem to get what the federal government’s own legislation says they are supposed to give us. And when we ask for it, they fight us at every turn. They’ve been fighting us for over a decade now.”

Copeland said he hopes that the Government of Alberta’s effort to learn about the relationship between the federal government and municipalities in Alberta results in support for disputes, and a larger voice to help small communities get their fair share.

“When it seems like large communities get what they ask for and small communities are virtually forgotten, it may be time for the province to step in,” Copeland said.

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