City cracks down on tax evaders

KIRSTEN MURPHY

City officials are preparing to flex their legal muscles to recoup some of the $1.3 million owed to them in back taxes.

Territorial legislation passed in 1997 gives Iqaluit administrators authority to sell municipal properties in order to collect outstanding taxes.

This is the first time the city has used the legislation, finance controller John Hussey said.

“It’s one of the last steps, but it’s under research right now,” Hussey said.

Former CBC broadcaster Jonah Kelly owes $132,163 – the most owed by a single person. The amount is a cumulative sum calculated over more than five years.

Hussey would not say whether Kelly’s case is heading to court. “I don’t want to get into specific cases because of the legalities and confidentiality. I have to be careful,” he said. “Things are being researched.”

Nor would Hussey say what reason, if any, Kelly has given for refusing to pay.

Kelly could not be reached for comment. However, an article in Arctic Circle magazine in 1990, suggests Kelly’s rationale may not be purely financial.

“The experience of moving into public housing left many people feeling as if they had been tricked by the [federal] government … with some embittered tenants not caring whether they paid rent or not,” Kelly told the interviewer.

Other high-profile names on the list include businessman Kenn Harper, who owes $6,976; and lawyer Euan Mackay, who owes $37,813.

Toonoonik Sahoonik Co-op owes $26,872. Rick Bradley has accumulated $89,237 in back taxes and the estate of Geela Giroux owes nearly $10,000.

The outstanding $1.3 million is a drop in the bucket compared with the $72 million the city needs to rebuild roads, the water treatment plant, city hall, the fire hall and water-sewer lines. Even so, the money the city recovers will go toward addressing Iqaluit’s growing infrastructure needs.

The city published a 118-name list of local taxpayers in arrears on July 19. The list is twice as long and double that of the $500,000 owed to the town just three years ago.

Some names have been on the list for years. Others are new arrivals.

An outstanding account is charged 1.67 per cent in interest each month. Hussey said it doesn’t take long for a small balance to become a big one.

“At that rate it can cause a tax bill to run out of control, like a snowball running down a hill,” Hussey said.
The doubling of debt may also be due to the city’s increasing population, he said.

Reasons for not paying range from honest oversights to financial problems to city billing errors.

Publishing people’s names and businesses motivates some people to pay up. “The good people – who are the majority – are paying their taxes. They come in and ask why they’re paying but so many [people] are not. They expect something to be done,” Hussey said.

A handful of people on the list would not speak on the record when contacted by Nunatsiaq News.

However, a man who spoke on the condition of anonymity said some people are following the example set by others.

“They see other people not paying and say ‘Why should I?'”