The Village of Avonlea has sent a letter to the Prairie South School Division (PSSD) demanding that it pay an outstanding fee that was assessed on a school property nearly three years ago.
The village assessed a local improvement levy in 2017 to pave a street — adjacent to Avonlea School — that services community businesses. According to the letter, the division was given until Dec. 15, 2017 for pre-payment of the special assessment. Since that time expired, the division was bound to the option to pay the special assessment on the annualized instalment basis that also included interest.
The special assessment was levied with the division’s taxes starting in 2018, with the assessment to end in 2022.
Avonlea — located southeast of Moose Jaw — has not received any payment from PSSD for the local improvement levy and no response to the tax notices, reminder letters, auditor’s letters and emails, wrote administrator Jaimie Paranuik. She spoke with the division’s accounting technician on March 22, 2019 and was assured this would be handled. Paranuik sent email copies of the overdue notices that day after they were requested, and again on March 25, but did not hear back.
“(Town) council requests a written response from your board to explain why this has not been paid, why the letters and emails have not been addressed and what … your future plans (are) to rectify this matter,” Paranuik said.
The town contacted the Ministry of Government Relations, which assured town council that school divisions are not exempt from local improvement levies. Furthermore, after reviewing similar cases, the town learned Court of Queen’s Bench and the Saskatchewan Municipal Appeals Board both ruled school divisions are liable for improvement levies and all costs that the municipality incurred for the appeal.
During its most recent board meeting, PSSD trustees voted to table the issue and refer it to the board’s Committee of the Whole — which meets only in-camera, or private — for a discussion and decision.
The board will have to make a decision on this issue soon, particularly since division staff are involved in handling this, explained education director Tony Baldwin. Board office staff has worked carefully under board advice to this point, but eventually a decision will be required.
Trustee Shawn Davidson agreed with Baldwin, adding the board needs to have a more comprehensive discussion about its strategy with the decision it wants to make. The board can then bring forward a motion once it has spoken about what it wants to do.
Of all the businesses affected by the project, only PSSD appealed the assessment levy, Paraniuk told the Express by phone. The school division’s assessment — “a fair bit,” Paraniuk said — was not greater than the cost of the project, so it had to pay. Town council still went ahead with the project despite PSSD refusing to pay.
When reached for phone, Mayor Marlyn Stevens would not comment since the matter had been tabled and would be dealt with later.
