By Troy Gillard

tough times continue

Lacombe County writes off $600,000 in oil and gas property taxes

Nov 13, 2019 | 11:17 AM

Lacombe County has been hit hard in the pocketbook by Alberta’s struggling and gas industry.

Last week, county council voted to cancel $599,842.35 in unpaid taxes related to oil and gas wells, pipelines and other facilities.

Of that amount, $504,014 will be funded from the county’s “Allowance for Uncollectable Taxes” account. The remaining $95,828 will be funded from the 2019 operating budget.

“The number of oil-based bankruptcies encountered by the County over the past 12 months has slowed as companies have shed a number of unproductive and costly wells,” read a report to council for their Nov. 7 meeting.

“The natural gas industry is also going through a prolonged period of low commodity prices. Even with the Province’s Shallow Gas Tax Relief Initiative, the County may see further consolidation in this industry,” the report adds.

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Approximately, $94,000 of the cancelled property taxes involves companies already insolvent. The County says it continues to work with the receivership and bankruptcy processes to collect additional payments towards these balances.

The balances (shown below) for the cancelled property taxes do not reflect the amounts cancelled as part of the Province’s Shallow Gas Tax Relief Initiative.

Last December, Lacombe County wrote off $374,000 in oil and gas property taxes dating back to 2016.

(Source: Lacombe County)

Also at their meeting on Thursday, council denied a funding request from Central Alberta Synergy, a group which meets on a regular basis to provide a link between oil and gas companies and rural residents.

The group says on its Facebook page that is was formed in fall of 2018 in response to increased oil and gas activity in central Alberta.

Central Alberta Synergy had been seeking $1000 in one-time funding along with further support under the county’s annual budget process. They will be making similar funding requests to other local municipalities.