Oil, gas taxes should be collected from royalty revenue: Alta. municipalities [Video]

Leaders from Alberta’s rural municipalities say they have tried everything in their power to force oil and gas companies to pay their outstanding property taxes, and they are calling on the provincial government to step in and collect these debts on their behalf.

A motion passed during the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) convention on Nov. 5 asks that the government of Alberta require oil and gas companies to pay their municipal taxes as a condition of being allowed to continue to develop oil and gas resources. If companies don’t willingly pay the required municipal taxes, the motion also asks that the government collect what is owing through the collection and redistribution of royalty revenues.

“Oil companies play a vital role in our communities, providing jobs, driving economic growth and paying their municipal taxes, but there are bad actors who don’t pay the farm leases bills in our community, leaving …