City working with Residents to Deal with Tax Arrears

Cold Lake had 38 properties placed on the arrears list in 2017.

“It’s something you don’t want to see; but we are definitely seeing quite a bit of properties [in tax arrears].” The last thing the City of Cold Lake would like is for someone to loose their home, says Mayor Craig Copeland, “it’s unfortunate, but I think the best thing about it all is that the City is working with the home owner to come to a compromise.”

As of March 31, 2017, there were 38 properties placed on the arrears list in Cold Lake; 32 houses and six manufactured homes. “We want to work with the tax payer and try to come to an agreement,” Mayor Copeland explains that the best thing for a property owner, in arrears, to do  is to speak to City administration. According to legislation, if the home owner does not work out an agreement and does not start making payments towards the back taxes, the property can be placed for sale on March 31, 2019. As of March 31, 2017, there were 27 properties that have entered a tax arrears agreement with the City.

It speaks to what’s been going on in our economy – Craig Copeland Mayor City of Cold Lake

There are seven properties with houses on them that are in arrears from March 31, 2016. Those properties have yet to work out an agreement with the City and are in threat of going for sale on March 31, 2018.

“It speaks to what’s been going on in our economy, in Cold Lake,” residents have not recovered from the sudden drop in the oil and gas sector, says the mayor. “There’s a lot of people laid-off in our community. We’ve been hit hard here with the slow down in the oil patch. You see it with the amount of houses for sale; a lot of people have left.” The City is doing what they can to assist, explains Copeland, “it’s one of the reasons we keep transit free.”