The City of Cold Lake and Federal Government are in Dispute over the Value of Land on 4-Wing. Each year, the city files a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT). Which is an application calculated much like all other taxable properties. The application is an assessment of how much the land is worth which determines how much a person or business or government, in this case, Â shall pay in property taxes.
For the last three years, The City of Cold Lake has filed their amount and the Federal Government says they disagree with the assessments of the base’s land. Basically, the Federal Government who owes the taxes to The City for using the base land is claiming the land price is over-valued.
Mayor of Cold Lake Craig Copeland explains how this becomes a problem.
Over the past three years, there has been a shortfall of PILT payments totalling over four million dollars. Mayor Copeland notes that council has appealed the federal government’s 2012 and 2013 decision.