Woodlands County Council votes for relief for residents affected by recent flood waters

At a recent Woodlands County Council meeting, elected officials discussed how best to offer help to
landowners who suffered damage in the recent flooding. Councillor Alan Deane, whose home was one
of those severely affected by floods, stated his pecuniary interest and left the room for both agenda
items relating to flood relief.
The first item involved offering a tax break to residents who hadn’t paid their 2023 property taxes yet.
Victoria Chan, Director of Corporate Services, explained that there were 329 affected properties from
the high waters and that 49 had outstanding taxes—the amount from the 49 combined to $68,000.
She said Administration recommended Council waive the first tax penalty that came into effect after
June 30. Homeowners would have until August 31, 2023, to pay their outstanding taxes without penalty.
Chan explained that over 85 percent of affected property owners had already paid their 2023 property
taxes. She said the tax penalty revenue they would forgo is about $4,000.
Councillor Peter Kuelken asked why the recommended date was August 31 instead of the end of the
calendar year. He thought Council had previously discussed extending the waived fees to December 31.
Chan responded that Council could extend it as they wish. She explained that the first tax penalty is
placed on outstanding accounts after the June 30 deadline, and the second is placed on September 1.
CAO Gordon Frank explained that since Council had already passed the Tax Rate Bylaw for 2023, they
couldn’t change it and add a third tax penalty for those who don’t pay by the new proposed deadline of
December 31, 2023. This would open the possibility for any of the 49 landowners with outstanding
property tax bills to not pay until June 30, 2024, for their 2023 and 2024 property taxes. “You’re
forgiving taxes for a year, is basically what you’re doing,” he said.
Councillor Jeremy Wilhelm motioned to waive the six percent tax penalty in place since July 1 and to
waive the second tax penalty, another six percent, that would have come into effect on September 1.
Council voted in favour of waiving the two penalties. The cost to the County is roughly $8,100.
Councillor John Burrows then brought up having an application-based program that would enable
affected landowners who needed a financial break to apply to get their taxes back. Burrows wanted
residents who had already paid their 2023 property taxes to have the option to apply to be temporarily
refunded the cash to give them some “liquidity” while dealing with flood-related costs.
“If you are a landowner and you made a lump sum payment, say I pay $14,000 in taxes, and I gave you a
check for $14,000, and that’s my tax bill. I could probably really use that $14,000 in the flood to deal
with stuff if I don’t have insurance or I’ve been covering other expenses. I could really use that money,”
explained Burrows, using himself as a hypothetical example.
He felt that offering to refund paid 2023 taxes temporarily would “put everybody in the same boat” in
terms of getting relief. He said that landowners who paid their taxes on time might not have done so if
they knew they wouldn’t incur a penalty for holding onto it during the flooding that took place shortly
thereafter. “It kind of turns us into a bit of a bank, but honestly, I don’t know how else to do it in a way
that helps people.”

Frank explained that it was possible to do. “You’re just lending their money back to them that they’ve
already paid us. You can do it, but it just has to have an agreement that they are willing to pay that at
such a time; otherwise, penalties get reapplied.”
Councillor Bruce Prestidge brought up a current policy that involved property owners suffering a
tragedy, like a burned home, and receiving $1000 from the County. He wondered if the policy could
work for the flood victims. Reeve Dave Kusch agreed and felt it might be a “cleaner way” instead of a
refund. Administration explained that the policy, 6204–Relief Assistance for Catastrophic Events, is
geared towards fires and the total or near loss of a person’s personal belongings or home. Chan
highlighted that giving out $1000 to affected properties would amount to $329,000 of non-payable
grants, a significant cost for the County.
Burrows felt that applying for funds was better than an all-out refund or relief to everyone. He also
thought it should be a standing policy since this was the second flood he’d seen in his six years on
council. “Based on the way things are going, I don’t think this it’s going to be the last flood that
Woodlands County is going to see. We should probably have something in our pocket that deals with
this for a little bit of relief,” he added.
Kuelken agreed that there needed to be a permanent policy for flooding and a reserve set aside for
providing relief. “This discussion has really been good, and I’m glad that (Councillor) Burrows brought
this to the forefront because I don’t think we have a reserve fund at this point in time for a disaster, so I
think that should be included in our policy tweak, and that would automatically go into our budget
deliberations. I think this opens up a completely new responsibility for our council.”
Councillor Kuelken motioned to have Administration bring back an updated disaster relief policy to
include flooding. Council will see the draft at their August meeting and decide how they want to move
forward to provide further relief to affected residents.
The second item involved allowing affected property owners to use the landfill for free. Andre Bachand,
Director of Infrastructure Services, said that since Council’s vote to provide access took place in June,
several bins had been put out for residents. He told Council that some bins that weren’t being used were
in the process of being removed. He added that they had received calls from property owners asking for
more time to use the landfill without cost.
“Some of them are just getting to the further parts of their property and finding items that floated
there,” said Bachand. County’s Administration recommended extending the free landfill access to those
affected by flooding until September 5. He said they would write letters to affected property owners if
approved, instructing them to bring the letter with them to gain free access. Council passed the motion
without opposition.