City Locks Out Tenant
The City has recently taken another step in the saga of 134 Manitoba Street (Morrison Blackwood Hardware Building built in 1921) West and 114 Manitoba Street West.
The two properties have been the center of a legal property tax dispute between the City of Moose Jaw and the “owner tenant”.
The City maintained in court they were the rightful owners for unpaid property taxes. Vern Anderson however, in court pointed out, he had gone down to City Hall and repaid the back taxes, even though he had repaid them after the city had taken possession of the building.
Apparently, the tax notice was sent to Anderson by mistake at the time he paid it.
A judge agreed with the City according to a report in the local news website moosejawtoday.com .
Anderson had not been paying his property taxes in protest of assessment values that raised the value of his property by over 300 percent.
Over the past few years, there has been vocal opposition to commercial property assessments provided by the City’s contracted assessment agency - Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency.
One of the properties there is a Sherrif’s notice that the former tenant can no longer enter the buildings under an order obtained from the Saskatchewan Office Of Residential Tenancies.
Unapproved entry could lead to charges,
It is unknown if or when the City of Moose Jaw will hold a property tax auction for the properties in order to recover out outstanding property taxes.
At a recent meeting of city Council, Council was told that the city is not in the business of acquiring properties, but rather is in the business of ensuring they collect the outstanding property taxes.
The assessed value of the properties for property tax purposes was $1,724,100 in 2016.
