Halifax businesses with properties destroyed by fire ask for tax relief

Business owners who lost buildings in the Halifax-area wildfire, and local politicians, are calling on the province for tax relief — but the Nova Scotia government says the city can make that move on its own.

Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) property tax bills are due this October, and while the city has already waived them for residential property owners whose homes were destroyed by fire, it has not done so for commercial customers.

"I actually couldn't believe they were charging us tax on something that doesn't exist. I mean, it doesn't make any sense," said Tammy MacKay, co-owner of Moulding Warehouse in Hammonds Plains.

MacKay's company lost their production facility during the wildfire that began in the area on May 28. It was one of the more than 200 structures destroyed during the blaze, including 151 homes.

They are working through the insurance process, but MacKay said it will likely cost millions of dollars to replace their machinery and rebuild. In the meantime, MacKay said they still have one warehouse and have set up a trailer to sell moulding from other suppliers.

But their upcoming property tax bill for the year is about $9,000, and comes at a time when "we're already stretched to the max," MacKay said.

A few kilometres away in Westwood Hills where the fire began, Donna Buckland looks over an empty, rocky slope on Wyndham Drive where the Giant Steps Children's Centre once sat.

The daycare co-owner said it was "devastating" to learn the building, built in 2008, was lost in the fire. Buckland said they've found places for all 68 children who attended the daycare either at their three other locations or in a rental space.

Her property tax bill will run $8,500 this fall, Buckland said, half of the $17,000 annual total. Although that number could go down next year after the land is reassessed, Buckland said it should be very low.

"We don't have a business to operate," Buckland said.

"If you look around, like we [have] pavement, gravel and a playground that's not usable. It's just to me, you know, what am I paying for?"

Area MLA Ben Jessome said it's up to the provincial government to step in. 

He wrote Premier Tim Houston in July to ask for a commercial tax relief program similar to the one the province rolled out in 2020 to help hotel owners during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his letter, the Liberal MLA noted that the Halifax Charter prevents the municipality from making this move on their own. The charter reads that "the municipality may not grant a tax concession or other form of direct financial assistance to a business or industry."