Alberta reviewing plan on forcing oil companies to pay outstanding municipal taxes

Alberta may soon require oil and gas companies to be on top of their municipal property taxes if they want to keep producing.

It’s one of more than a dozen proposals contained in a new report released by the Rural Municipalities of Alberta and the province.

Unpaid municipal taxes by some in the energy industry is a long-standing issue, with Alberta’s rural communities owed more than $250 million as of last year.

Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams says that money will likely never be recovered.

Williams says municipalities can’t collect what’s owed to them from companies that no longer exist, but says he hopes the new report is a path forward.

Rural Municipalities president Kara Westerlund says she hopes at least some can be recovered and that the new policies put an end to the problem.

— More to come…