Several properties could reach tax auction

By Collin Gallant on February 28, 2018.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com @CollinGallant

A derelict building on Bridge Street and an auto wreckers partially damaged by fire late last year are among 18 properties that could go to tax auction in March.

Tuesday’s meeting of corporate services committee was slated to accept this year’s list of properties to go to tax auction next month. It is a final avenue for local government to recover tax amounts owed for several years.

Officials also state that very few properties are ever offered at auction, as mortgage holders or owners usually step in to protect their investments.

The storage facility located at 920 Bridge St. was once the original location of Revelstoke Lumber in Medicine Hat, but has changed ownership several times since the 1990s.

It now sits vacant and unheated at the site beside the Allowance Avenue overpass, from which holes in the roof show trusses and water damage. It’s not known who currently owns the building.

Corporate services committee chair Coun. Robert Dumanowski told the News he’s frustrated the city can’t do more to compel owners to maintain properties

He reserved further comment until after the issue moves to an auction at the end of March.

Administrators said that in general they have exhausted other avenues to collect back taxes on the 18 properties and only schedule auctions when four years have gone by.

“They’re quite a long way down the process,” said commissioner Brian Mastel.

“The city does have the option to take ownership of properties (that are in tax arrears), and we have done that in the past.”

The warehouse at 920 Bridge St. is listed at a reserve bid of $200,000, which officials believe is market value. After taxes and any other caveats on auctioned buildings are paid, the remainder is paid to the owner.

“It’s not a liquidation process,” Mastel said, who added that properties sold “as is” without bidders having access beforehand, can make sales process difficult.

The city’s planning department and building inspectors have told the News recently they have actively monitored the site, and even order the site be tidied last year.

However, since there is no perceived threat to public safety, there’s little further action officials can take.

Among this year’s list are seven addresses, two condo parking stalls and nine mobile home lots. Three property owners have already made arrangements to make payments and will be removed, administrators said.

An autowrecking yard at 1763 Semrau Dr. is also listed for sale with a reserve bid of $1 million.

It was the site of a structure fire in early December, which authorities determined was accidental.

Five residential lots and buildings are priced between $230,000 and $350,000. Two parking stalls that are part of condo complexes, but have separate titles from units, are priced at $5,000.

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