Properties, investors and taxes: a study of Calgary real estate investment, municipal finances, and property tax arrears, 1911-1919
Abstract
Calgary, in the years 1911 to 1919, went through a boom and collapse of which a principal manifestation was activity in the city's real estate market. The collapse of the real estate bcx::>m created severe difficulties both for investors and for the City. As real estate sales fell off, so too did Calgary tax collections, leaving both property owners and the City under the burden of mounting debt loads. Despite its financial problems, however, tt1e City was extremely reluctant to foreclose on properties on which taxes had not been paid.
This study examines the problan of tax arrears first from the perspective of Calgary's municipal finances, and second through a sample
of ':fl selected real estate investors who held various types of Calgary property. The examination of rmmicipal finances reveals the manner in which uncollected taxes were regarded and used by the City as assets, and in consequence why the civic authorities were so reluctant to foreclose on properties in arrears. The examination of the 37 investors and their holdings in five categories of Calgary property establishes general patterns of tax arrears. The investors who were IIDst seriously in arrears held a type of property which could not be rescld even at the height of the boar., or bought their properties too late to resell them.
When the City, having exhausted the available alternatives, finally did resort to foreclosure and auction of the properties in arrears, the properties proved to be no more saleable at .auction than they had been on the open market. In consequence, the City acquired by default a very large quantity of land which it did not want, and was forced to write off the arrears of taxes owing on the land, while a large number of investors were dispossessed of their property.
Description
Bibliography: p. 149-154.
Keywords
Citation
MacLeod, H. L. (1977). Properties, investors and taxes: a study of Calgary real estate investment, municipal finances, and property tax arrears, 1911-1919 (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/12558