DRYDEN – The City of Dryden lost its Leave to Appeal in the Superior Court of Justice Divisional Court from the decision of the Assessment Review Board (ARB) regarding municipal assessment for the Dryden Pulp Mill owned by Domtar Pulp and Paper Inc. for the tax years 2009 to 2012.
The ARB’s returned assessment of Domtar’s Dryden pulp mill property was $14.4 million for 2009 to 2012. The original Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) assessed value for these years was $52 million. The result of the ARB’s decision was a refund of property taxes of approximately $7.9 million.
Mayor Greg Wilson noted, “The City has planned and prepared for any eventuality regarding a decision in this legal process including refunding, in full, tax monies owed to Domtar with no additional impact to the local taxpayers. Dryden Council will continue its work to move the City forward and to lobby the province for fair tax assessment policy and ensuring MPAC meets its duty to represent its municipal customers in these tax processes.”
CAO Peggy Van Mierlo-West advises, “The City of Dryden has taken significant steps in recent years to move the community forward by downsizing the organization, undergoing fiscal restructuring and continuing to position the City for a positive future as a regional hub for growth. In addition the City has in 2013, 2014 and 2015 used the legislated tax tools provided by the Province to stabilize the negative impacts of these significant tax assessment reductions in the large industrial sector to the other tax classes including residential and commercial classes.”
