Tax auction likely cancelled as owners make payment arrangements

By Medicine Hat News on March 29, 2025.

@MedicineHatNews

With just one outstanding tax agreement to be finalized, the City of Medicine Hat is likely to cancel a planned tax auction set for Monday.

This winter city council was presented with an initial list of nine properties and one manufactured home that were more than three years in arrears. They were scheduled for sale as-is on March 31 to bidders meeting a minimum reserve bid, though arrangements are typically made and very few properties ever change hands.

The city’s corporate services committee heard Thursday that owners or mortgage holders of nine properties had engaged in a repayment agreement process, and the one remaining is in the final stages.

“It’s likely there will not be a tax auction,” said interim division managing director Lola Barta.

Over the last 10 years, a yearly average of 11 properties have moved to the final stage of collections process, and only eight properties in total have been offered at auction since 2019.

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