THUNDER BAY -- The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed an application by the City of Thunder Bay to appeal an Ontario Court of Appeal decision on a tax arrears case involving the Poplar Point First Nation Development Corporation (PPFNDC).
It means the corporation will get about $76,000, which is the difference between the proceeds of the sale of a County Park residence owned by PPFNDC in 2014, and the roughly $6,000 in unpaid taxes on the property.
In January, 2016, the city won a Superior Court ruling that it was entitled to the money because PPFNDC had missed a deadline, by three weeks, to formally apply to court for the surplus from the tax sale.
PPFNDC said it had believed it had more time to apply because two more of its properties had been sold for nonpayment of taxes, and it assumed the municipality would be dealing with issues surrounding all three tax sales at the same time.
PPFNDC, represented by Thunder Bay lawyer Rene Larson, took the case to the Ontario Court of Appeal, which overturned the lower court ruling in December, 2016.
The court noted that when PPFNDC realized its error in not applying for the surplus, it had moved promptly to apply, whereas the City of Thunder Bay had not yet started its own application for the funds.
The appeal court's ruling stated that "the windfall to the municipality would have been enormous, amounting to the receipt of $76,264.60...when the initial tax arrears, which had been fully satisfied, were $5,843.11."
In an interview Monday Larson told Tbnewswatch that the Supreme Court's denial of the city's request to appeal means that the rightful owner of the funds is getting the money.
"The city had no rightful claim to the money that was sitting in court, other than a statute that said Poplar Point hadn't applied for it within the one-year period...It was simply a bonus to the city that was not properly earned or justified."
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the city said the municipality is disappointed in the outcome of the case, but has no further comment.
