Under the Part 10, Division 8, of the Municipal Government Act of Alberta, the City of Fort Saskatchewan is authorized to implement a tax recovery process by establishing timelines and procedures to recover unpaid property taxes. Reserve bid, set by Council, is as close to the market value of the property as possible. This may include the possession and sale of properties, including distribution of surplus sale proceeds and final disposition of the parcel, as necessary.
The City of Fort Saskatchewan takes all reasonable actions toward recovery of property tax arrears while ensuring the tax recovery process being followed is fair to both the property owner(s) and the City, and within the authority provided under the Municipal Government Act of Alberta.
Tax Recovery Process
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- Each Year City of Fort Saskatchewan must, not later than March 31, prepare a list of all parcels of land that are more than one year in arrears and forward to the Registrar at the Land Titles Office. A Tax Recovery Notification will be registered on the Certificate of Title.
- Once a Tax Recovery Notification has be endorsed on the Certificate of Title, the person who is liable to pay the taxes must not remove any improvements for which taxes can be levied and for which that person is responsible without the approval of the municipality.
- Anyone can pay the tax arrears owing against the property and City of Fort Saskatchewan will discharge the Tax Recovery Notification.
- If the tax arrears are not paid by March 31 of the following year, the City of Fort Saskatchewan will offer the parcel for sale at public auction and may become the owner of the parcel if it is not sold at public auction.
- Section 325 (c) of the MGA defines “tax arrears” as “taxes that remain unpaid after December 31 of the year in which they are imposed.” Taxes are in arrears if they are unpaid as of January 1 of the year following the year in which they were imposed. Section 332 states that taxes imposed are deemed to have been imposed on January 1.
- Once the Registrar has endorsed the Tax Recovery Notification he or she must, not later than August 1, send a notice to the owner of the parcel of land, to any person who has an interest registered against the parcel, and to each owner of an encumbrance as shown on the Certificate of Title for the parcel. The notice must state that if the tax arrears are not paid by March 31 of the following year, the municipality will offer the parcel for sale at public auction, and the municipality may become the owner of the parcel if it is not sold at public auction.
- City of Fort Saskatchewan MUST offer for sale at a public auction any lands with tax arrears that are shown on its tax arrears list.
- Discharge of Tax Recovery Notification will not be sent to Land Titles until the arrears and penalties are paid in full.
- City of Fort Saskatchewan must establish a reserve selling price before it can auction a property. The reserve bid is set at a level that is as close as reasonably possible to the market value of the parcel, and any conditions that apply to the sale.
- City of Fort Saskatchewan must advertise the public auction in the Alberta Gazette and one local newspaper. The information in the advertisement must specify the date, time and location of the public auction, the conditions of sale and a description of each parcel of land to be offered for sale.
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Tax Sale Auction
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The tax sale is a public auction of properties that have a tax recovery notification on title as a result of unpaid property taxes or outstanding charges for than one year.
The City of Fort Saskatchewan, similar to any other municipality in Alberta, is able to recover unpaid property taxes be selling properties of "non-compliant" owners at a public auction.
If required, the City of Fort Saskatchewan holds a tax sale auction in September of each year in Council Chambers at City Hall.
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Sale terms
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- Properties are sold as is/where is;
- No warranties regarding the said properties;
- No consideration of pre-sale nor post-sale conditions;
- Non-refundable deposit of 20% of the accepted bid at the time of sale with the balance of the accepted bid within 15 days of the date of sale of property; and
- Payments by cash, bank draft, or certified cheque only
- GST may be applicable
Note: If the property is occupied it is the purchaser's responsibility to evict the occupants.
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