Ma-Me-O Beach residents handed $20K bill to pay for failed sewage project

While taxes in Ma-Me-O Beach, Alta., are due in June, residents were handed an additional bill for $19,500 that is due September 30.

It's to pay for a failed $5 million wastewater project that has saddled the community on the southeast shore of Pigeon Lake with debt for years. Ma-Me-O Mayor Christine Holmes said nearly 40 per cent of the community has paid so far, and there will be consequences for those who don't.

"The special tax is on title," Holmes said. "So if somebody just flat out refused to pay, they could essentially lose their property down the road," adding she is hopeful that scenario won't happen.

Residents who can't pay may apply for private financing or sell their property — but that bill on the title must be paid by either the seller or the buyer. 

Village newsletters say if the September deadline is missed, there will be a 12 per cent penalty, followed by another potential 18 per cent penalty in January. 

"You're looking at people in their 90s that are retired out here and all of a sudden see a $20,000 bill with 18 per cent interest on it," said resident Dave Walker. "That scared them to death."

The special tax passed in April following a vote from the community. If everyone pays, the debt should be paid off in full — a welcome relief, Holmes said. Left unpaid, it would incur $300,000 in interest each year.

The sewage system which caused the financial grief was riddled with issues from its start in 2017. An arbitration decision which ruled in favour of the contractor said the project was "plagued by a failed design, poor oversight and allegations of shoddy workmanship."

Resident Ron Lupton is on a fixed retirement income. He said withdrawing the bill's amount from his retirement savings will also make it taxable — costing him even more.

"We don't understand why we have to pay for something we didn't get. We're paying for someone else's mistakes," Lupton said.

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs initiated a viability review in December to explore whether the community should be dissolved and absorbed as a hamlet of the County of Wetaskiwin. The results of that review will be made available January 2025, followed by a resident vote in February.

Walker said that residents had repeatedly reached out to the ministry over the years expressing concern over the project, but they were ignored.

"But in the meantime, here, there are people that are going to lose their homes," said Walker.

Heather Jenkins, press secretary for the minister of Municipal Affairs, said in an emailed statement to CBC that local councils have the authority to implement taxes required to fund themselves. The Municipal Government Act allows councils to pass special tax bylaws to pay for specific services or purposes.