Alberta may soon require oil and gas companies to keep on top of their municipal property tax payments if they want to keep producing.
It’s one of the proposals released Monday in a report by the Rural Municipalities of Alberta and the province.
The stakes are high.
Unpaid property 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 told reporters that while the report is a path forward, the unpaid money to date is likely gone forever.
“The majority of past arrears are fundamentally unrecoverable,” Williams said.
“We can’t go back and collect from companies that don’t exist anymore.”
Rural Municipalities president Kara Westerlund, speaking alongside the minister, said she hopes at least some of that $250 million can be recovered, citing the cost of lost opportunity.
“We are facing, probably by the end of 2026, a close to $25-billion deficit in infrastructure needs across rural Alberta,” said Westerlund, a councillor in Brazeau County.
“We’re talking roads, bridges, culverts, wastewater and water.”
Williams said the new policies contained in Monday’s report would give the provincial energy regulator “real teeth” when it comes to enforcement.
“There’s no reason we can’t have strong enforcement going forward, and that’s what this is about,” he said.
The report says the recommendation to require oil and gas companies to stay on top of their property taxes as a condition of having an operating licence is an example of the “teeth” the province could give the Alberta Energy Regulator, or AER.
“While the AER can take certain actions in response to non-payment under specific circumstances, municipal tax obligations are not formally embedded within the licensing regime itself,” the report says.
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“By making tax compliance a fundamental requirement of responsible resource development, this approach seeks to strengthen both prevention and recovery of tax arrears.”
The report also calls on the province to prevent companies not in good standing for property taxes from acquiring new leases or wells. It would replace the current rule, which says companies more than $20,000 behind aren’t able to acquire new leases.
Another recommendation would see the province create a financial support program that municipalities could turn to when they experience major shortfalls in payment from one or more companies.
Further recommendations call for improved data sharing among rural municipalities, the province and the energy regulator.
Williams said the government will review the proposals over the next few months. He said if the province wants to implement the recommendations, it could be done quickly as few require legislation to implement.
Opposition NDP municipal affairs critic Rob Miyashiro said it was “about time” the province tried to meaningfully address the issue, but added he wasn’t confident the problem will be solved.
“Confidence will come when we see some action,” he said.
Landowners and municipalities have also criticized the energy regulator for not taking action against delinquent companies, criticism the regulator’s chief executive officer believes stems from a misunderstanding of current policy.
“The regulator follows policy and, up to this point in time, it was a consideration — unpaid municipal taxes and taking enforcement action — but it wasn’t a sole element of that,” said Rob Morgan, who spoke alongside Williams and Westerlund.
“Changes like this allow us then to take more action where it’s appropriate.”
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