Kneehill County council approved the cancellation and expense of nearly $900,000 in levies and penalties on former Trident Exploration tax rolls within Kneehill County boundaries during the regular Tuesday, February 8 council meeting.
Trident Explorations ceased operations in Kneehill County and other areas in April 2019, which has left counties handling obligations stemming from the company’s unpaid taxes.
“Cancellation (of these tax rolls) includes penalties of $407,307 which are penalties from 2018 to 2021, $407,553 in levies for a portion of 2020 and previous to 2018,” property tax officer Caroline Siverson explained during the presentation.
Ms. Siverson explained new companies have purchased some of the former Trident assets, and a portion of the 2020 levies along with the full 2021 levies were paid; however, levies and penalties from 2018 to 2020 remained. According to the report, this amounted to $897,209.78.
Along with cancelling these penalties and levies, the county has also applied for $82,330 in Provincial Education Requisition Credit (PERC) rebates on these tax rolls.
The province enacted two programs to assist municipalities facing financial pressures due to industrial and oil and gas properties going into receivership or insolvency due to the struggling energy industry. The PERC and Designated Industrial Requisition Credit (DIRC) programs allow municipalities to apply for credit on the associated requisitions paid to the province on delinquent properties.
Funding for these programs is based on a first-come-first-served basis, though Ms. Siverson noted there is “quite a bit of money in the program.”
Kneehill County submitted its application ahead of the January 31 deadline to ensure it was in the queue to receive this funding; in total, the county has applied for $307,174.73 in credits under the two programs.
Ms. Siverson added if any arrears are collected, the education and designated industrial requisitions would need to be reimbursed.
Council approved cancelling a total of $897,209.78 in levies and penalties on the Trident tax rolls and voiding some $36,000 in penalties for 2022, and also approved the submitted PERC and DIRC application.