News
Release
Canada’s top court sides with HRM: Citadel Hill payments
should reflect assessed value
(Friday, June 15, 2012) – In a decision released this morning, the
Supreme Court of Canada ruled in HRM’s favour regarding the municipality’s
long-standing position that Citadel Hill should make payments in lieu of
property taxes in accordance with the hill’s assessed
value.
The decision means a new determination will be made by the Minister
of Public Works and Government Services Canada on the value of the historic
Citadel in consideration of the assessed value of the
site.
“We are extremely pleased that the highest court in the country
shares our view that payments in lieu of taxes should be based on a reasonable
assessment of Citadel Hill, which occupies a vast parcel of prime land in the
heart of our municipality,” said Mayor Peter Kelly. “We look forward to an
appropriate determination of payment in lieu of
taxes.”
HRM maintains the Citadel property should make a payment in lieu of
taxes based on a value of approximately $19 million, while the federal
government had determined the value of the hill should be set at $1.55 million.
“This is a big win for our municipality and for every residential
and commercial property owner in HRM who has been expected to pay taxes while
Citadel Hill has paid an unreasonably low sum,” said Mayor Peter
Kelly.
The Mayor is pleased that today’s decision speaks to the need for
fair dealings with municipalities across the country, and agrees with the Supreme Court’s position that it is clearly unreasonable that 42 acres in the
heart of downtown could have essentially no value for assessment
purposes.
The Supreme Court decision also awards legal costs to the
municipality which will be calculated and submitted for payment.
“The fact that our legal costs will be covered speaks volumes about
the Supreme Court’s conviction in its decision,” said the
Mayor.
The decision can be found at: http://scc.lexum.org/en/2012/2012scc29/2012scc29.html
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Contact:
Mayor Peter Kelly
490-4010
