Church fights tax bill
Prince Albert’s Embassy Church is fighting a $370,000 tax bill.
The church purchased the former Co-op building at the corner of River St. and First Ave. E. several years ago, resulting in renovations. The property was assessed at 100 per cent commercial between 2012 and 2014 during its construction phase.
Pastor Meghan Mayer told council on Monday there’s no historical precedence in the province for a church to be taxed during construction. She said at the time, the church, which currently has a 150 person congregation, wasn’t operating as a business so it shouldn’t be taxed as one.
“Consistently, city officials have recognized the flaws in the assessment and propose the church be either exonerated from any arrears including interest and penalties that relates to the pre-construction tax assessment or instead, be tax based on the post-construction assessment,” she said. “The church feels applying the 2014 assessment for limited commercial space along Central Avenue is a fair concession on its part.”