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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
The taxman wants your cash
City sends notices to homeowners with outstanding balances
If you're really behind on your taxes, it's time to pay up.
Next week, Winnipeg will mail more than 2,000 notices to property owners who haven't paid taxes in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Deputy city assessor Mel Chambers said it's the first notice to warn owners they need to pay at least part of the outstanding amount, or the city will take further steps to seize the property.
The warning is part of a legal process that kicks in after property taxes have been in arrears for three years. If no payment is received, a second notice will be sent in August. Chambers said the city tries to work with owners who contact them to figure out a way they can pay the oldest bill. They then have another year to pay the balance.
He said the number of people who owe back taxes typically shrinks after the first or second warning, as some people choose to manage their taxes this way every year.
If they don't find a way to pay, the grace period ends this fall.
"Come Oct. 1, the clock stops ticking," Chambers said. "This is a serious, serious thing."
At the end of October, the city will publish the remaining list of delinquent properties in the Manitoba Gazette, a provincial publication of legal notices. In December, the city can register an interest in the property -- like a lien -- and owners have one year to pay the bill in full.
The following December -- if money is still owed -- Winnipeg can apply to take title of a property.
The process from beginning to end takes about five years, Chambers said, and the city gives property owners ample time to pay what they owe before more drastic measures are taken.
From 2004 to 2011, the city seized and sold 404 properties through tax sales, documents obtained through a freedom-of-information request show. Many of the properties are located in the inner city and have been purchased by housing renewal corporations and not-for-profits.
Data show 26 properties were seized and sold on Alexander Avenue, 22 on Pritchard Avenue, 18 on Aberdeen Avenue, 14 on Main Street and another 10 on Selkirk Avenue.
The number of properties seized due to tax arrears has dropped recently. Last year, Winnipeg sold 21 properties in a tax sale, down from 99 in 2005.
While this may be a signal that more people are paying their taxes, Chambers said it might also reflect increasing property values.
In the past, he said outstanding taxes were often equal or close to the value of the land. That's changed, Chambers said, in part because property values have risen in recent years.
"We're not talking properties in River Park South or Linden Woods. In some cases, the land is worth more than the structure on it," Chambers said.
"It's easy to walk away from a property if your outstanding taxes are $12,000 to $15,000 when the market value is only $18,000. But if you've seen the market value increase, maybe there's more of a vested interest in maintaining the property."
Tax sales show downward trend
Number of city properties sold in tax sales, by year:
2011 21
2010 19
2009 41
2008 44
2007 49
2006 93
2005 99
2004 37
-- source: City of Winnipeg
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 13, 2012 B1
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