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Tax bill costing board headaches and heartaches: Sheppard

An order from the Education Ministry would likely be needed to rescind a $725,000 tax bill slapped on the Near North District School Board, trustees heard Tuesday night.
An order from the Education Ministry would likely be needed to rescind a $725,000 tax bill slapped on the Near North District School Board, trustees heard Tuesday night.

The bill, for Vincent Massey Public School, 10 per cent of which the North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority owned and ran part of the former Jack Pine Hill ski hill out of, was received by the board in August and covers 2002, 2003 and 2004.

The authority was also taxed for the same period of time, and will be appealing the bill along with the board.

Natural conclusion
Trustees were told Tuesday the bill stems from the partnership struck in 1999 between the board and the conservation authority, just before Vincent Massey was built.

City solicitor Michael Burke acted as the lawyer for both parties, the board was also heard at the meeting.

Earlier this year the board purchased the 10 per cent portion, used as the upper chalet, from the authority.

Chairwoman Eunice Saari said the appeal has to be filed because there’s no way the school board can pay the bill.

“We don’t have money to pay taxes and the foolish thing is, the natural conclusion is ‘board back taxes, property up for sale, kids without a school,’ it’s ridiculous,” Saari said following the board meeting.

“We don’t have the money to pay the taxes, we don’t have a funding envelope for taxes and we shouldn’t even look for the tax money because that part of the school we owned was being used only as a school. So what is their basis for taxing us?”

Researched the matter
School boards are supposed to be tax-exempt, but the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation, which prepares assessment rolls for each Ontario municipality, stated Near North didn’t qualify for the exemption because a commercial operation was being run out of one of its facilities.

MPAC even classified the school Commercial Taxable, leading to its assessment.

But Saari said she has researched the matter on the MPAC Web site.

“I read you can have multiple uses for the school, you may have one part that is taxable under the CT classification, while the other part is not.”

Saari also wanted to know why it took MPAC three years to decide Vincent Massey was now a taxable property.

An MPAC official, trustees heard, had told the board’s tax supervisor that Vincent Massey had been an “outstanding matter” ever since it has been built.

Unanimously passed
Trustee Jay Aspin proposed a motion “reaffirming the preposition that school boards are tax-exempt” and calling for the matter to be resolved as expeditiously as possible.

The unanimously passed motion will be forwarded to MPAC, the city, Education Minister Gerard Kennedy and Municipal Affairs Minister John Gerretsen.

Trustee Randy Sheppard, who had originally brought the tax problem to the board’s attention, said MPAC should be sued over the issue.

“This is costing us money and it’s costing us headaches and heartaches.”

Burn it up
Aspin said the matter has to be handled quickly.

“We have to avoid paying legal costs at the expense of our education system,” Aspin said.

“We’ve got to keep the lawyers out of it. We’re talking seven or $800,000 dollars and we don’t want to burn it up on lawyer fees over something that should be as plain as the nose on my face.”

Saari wondered why the Near North board was singled out when other school around the province lease space out for daycare centres and are not taxed themselves.