MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - Mountain View County's council has rejected a tax penalty forgiveness request from Imperial Oil.
The move came by way of motion at a recent, regularly-scheduled council meeting.
On Sept. 27, county administration received an email from an Imperial Oil representative requesting forgiveness on penalties applied on unpaid accounts.
The current total outstanding balance for Imperial Oil properties is $13,469 inclusive of applied penalties totalling $518, and, to date, no payment has been received for the 2024 property taxes, council heard.
In the letter to council, Agustina Lumerman, property tax analyst with Imperial Oil, requested the $518 tax penalty be forgiven.
“I am writing to formally request a waiver of penalties associated with late property tax bill payment, due to an unforeseen problem in our system because of a blocked vendor, I was unable to meet the payment deadline,” Lumberman said.
“As Imperial Oil has been diligent in fulfilling the obligations and this delay was an unfortunate exception, given the circumstances, I kindly request your consideration in waiving the penalties incurred.
“If accepted, we will send the September tax amount to the corresponding bank account in the following days.”
Councillors defeated a motion calling for the tax penalty forgiveness request. Reeve Angela Aalbers did not attend the Oct. 9 council meeting.
The council has waived tax penalties for an oil and gas company in the past.
In 2022, council voted to approve the tax penalty cancellation of $187,542.51 for late penalties incurred by Whitecap Resources Inc.
The county imposed the penalty on Whitecap Resources Inc. that September after 2022 tax levies of $4,707,077 were not received by the annual tax deadline that month.
County administration recommended that the tax penalty not be waived.
