Lacombe County council turned down a payment plan request from a corporate property owner, as the company also requested late payment penalties be waived. The request was discussed at the Nov. 13 regular meeting of council.

Councillors read a letter from BTG Power Corp dated Oct. 28 that acknowledged unpaid property taxes in 2024 and 2025 along with thousands of dollars in penalties. The company was requesting a payment plan for the property tax bill, also referred to as a levy, and asked councillors to waive the late penalties.

A memo from staff described the request. “BTG Power Corp. has several co-generation power facilities in Lacombe County,” stated the staff memo. “Fluctuations in the spot price for power in Alberta have impacted their day-to-day operations.

“BTG Power Corp. is proposing to make two payments, the first on date of approval of this proposal in the amount of $137,858.23 which is approximately equal to the 2024 levy plus the Sept. and Dec. penalties. The second payment would be made on Nov. 30 in the amount of $120,894.48. This amount is equivalent to the 2025 levy.

“The company is seeking to have the Sept. late payment penalties waived. Under this proposal, the company would avoid $7,253.67 in penalties. The amount outstanding as identified in the company’s correspondence is more than the $266,006.38.

“As of Sept. 30, 2025 the actual balance was $274,277.89 as a result of Sept. 30, 2025 penalties on the outstanding 2024 levy and penalties. As a result, the true amount of penalty relief required is $15,525.19.”

The staff memo noted that Lacombe County regularly gets corporate requests to waive property tax payment penalties. “Council has received a number of requests from oil and gas companies especially in the last two years since the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) started collecting information regarding unpaid taxes by oil and gas companies,” noted the staff memo.

“To date, council has turned down all requests for tax and penalty cancellation or deferment of penalties. There is nothing stopping the company from making the proposed payments in the absence of the county waiving the late payment charges.”

Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Tim Timmons reiterated Lacombe County receives requests every year from property owners for tax relief or the waiving of late penalties and that Lacombe County’s council has traditionally turned down all of those requests unless the county itself made a mistake that somehow contributed to the problem. The CAO noted that tradition should be upheld here.

A motion to approve BTG’s payment plan along with waiving penalties for unpaid property taxes was defeated.