Edmonton, other municipalities ask province to pay its property taxes

Edmonton's mayor is, once again, asking the United Conservative Party government to pay its full share of property taxes on provincial buildings.

Premier Danielle Smith said Friday at the Alberta Municipalities convention she'll consider it.

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Mayor Amarjeet Sohi says until the province pays, taxpayers will continue to pick up the tab of millions of deferred dollars from the province.

"They owe us $90 million," Sohi said Friday of the approximate amount the province owes the city after five years of deferred provincial property taxes.

"That is a huge amount of money that we have to collect from the rest of the property tax base in Edmonton, and that is not fair."

In 2019, a Jason Kenney-led UCP government reduced the amount of property taxes paid by the province to 75 per cent. A year later, that number was dropped to 50 per cent.

"I have been asking for this change for two years now, and every year this amount accumulates," Sohi said.

Edmonton is home to several provincial buildings, such as the legislature and Government House, but it’s not alone.

"Small communities are especially affected by this – tens of thousands of dollars not paid in property taxes," James Waikle, a councillor in High Prairie, said Friday.

The resolution was one of 27 presented at this week's convention, a proposal members voted overwhelmingly in support of: in favour, 95.1 per cent, or 510 votes.

When asked whether she would make the changes demanded by hundreds of local leaders, the premier says she'll take them into account.

"We are committed to looking at that because I need to better understand the rationale behind it," Smith said Friday.

"I need to understand the impact it's having in each community."

Smith says now is the time to examine the issue, ahead of possible changes in next year's budget.

If no changes are made, the city estimates the loss will cost $19 million a year going forward. 

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Chelan Skulski