The new AIL plastic pipe plant at 308 Walker Rd.
At its committee of the whole discussion meeting on Monday, Tantramar Town Council wrestled with the question of whether to reject an application from Mike Wilson of Atlantic Industries Limited (AIL) for a property tax rebate of up to $179,833.09 on the plastic pipe factory that his company built in 2022-23 on Walker Road in Sackville.
Town staff recommended denying the application because Wilson applied for the rebate on January 9, 2025 well after the pipe factory had been built.
Ron Kelly Spurles, Tantramar’s manager of business development said the rules for the Economic Development Incentive Program state that the town must receive the rebate application before a company applies for a building permit and before any construction begins.
He pointed out that Tantramar’s 2025 budget does not include any money for such a rebate.
Councillor Debbie Wiggins Colwell
Councillor Debbie Wiggins Colwell warned against setting a precedent by approving a rebate when the rules were not followed.
“Kudos to the company for doing it, you have to try,” she said, but added that even AIL itself would look at the council with “a different set of eyes” if it allowed the company to break the rules.
Deputy Mayor Matt Estabrooks suggested however, that somebody at AIL may have forgotten “to check a box” or “didn’t necessarily know the procedure.”
He said the town needs the business activity the company generates and he suggested allowing it to receive the tax rebate starting next year, the third of three options that town staff had suggested:
Councillors Allison Butcher and Josh Goguen agreed with the staff recommendation to deny the rebate because the company hadn’t applied for it in time.
But Councillor Michael Tower disagreed.
Councillor Michael Tower
“There should be some kind of recognition for a company that brings those jobs into town,” he said, adding that AIL had also paid for town building permits and it didn’t seem right to deny the rebate on the “technicality” that the company had applied for it too late.
“This is a very good company, they employ a lot of people and pay a lot of taxes and a lot of their workers live in town and own property in town, so that’s something big for our municipality,” he said before suggesting he would favour option 2.
CAO Jennifer Borne suggested that council refer the matter to town staff for more information and then, more discussion at a future council meeting.
After Deputy Mayor Estabrooks moved that motion, seconded by Councillor Tower, six members of council voted in favour with two voting against.
In favour: Deputy Mayor Estabrooks, Councillor Tower, Mayor Andrew Black, Councillor Bruce Phinney, Councillor Wiggins Colwell, Councillor Greg Martin.
Against: Councillors Butcher and Goguen.
Note: Councillor Barry Hicks was absent.
To read Ron Kelly Spurles’s written report to council on the AIL rebate application, click here.
This articles lists AIL as seeking the rebate. Yet the municipality’s manager of business development report lists the applicant as Right Coast Realty? What is the distinction between these entities? Why does the rebate application state that there is no structure on the site when there plainly is? Why are rebates being considered for development when the development has already happened? Is this for a business expansion, or are they AIL/Right Coast Realty/or both!?, retroactively trying to get funds they failed to apply for when the plant was built? Who would benefit from this rebate AIL or RCR?
I get that when the development was proposed that many of the details were shrouded in secrecy, apparently for competitive reasons due to proprietary technology. That is fine. But why the obfuscation/opacity now when the business is up and running?
I am all for this local business for the reasons many of the councillors listed. Yet their justifications for the rebate, however, given the lack of clarity and poor planning evident in the application come across as pretty weak. Does everyone in town now get a Mulligan in their business before the municipality?
Comment from Bruce Wark: RE Right Coast Realty, here is the Building Permit for 308 Walker Rd: https://warktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/22-1481-Building-permit.pdf
And here is a copy of the Town of Sackville development permit: https://warktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Development-Permit-22-1481.pdf
Both are attached to this Warktimes story: https://warktimes.com/2022/09/02/nb-govt-releases-slew-of-documents-on-sackvilles-ail-pipe-plant/
If you have a policy with a deadline for applications, for goodness sake follow it! If you make this one exception, you will be compelled to make an exception in the future or face a viable lawsuit from any corporate actor who is late. (Look at the following section of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms — “15. (1) Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and *equal benefit of the law* without discrimination.) Maybe ask the municipal solicitor for advice.
Why is Council so eager to give building incentives to companies that have already built their businesses, or that are going to build regardless?
The tax breaks aren’t incentives if the companies have already built, or are going to build anyway. These tax breaks just increase the profits of already profitable businesses, while homeowners pay with higher taxes for the municipal services that the businesses get a free ride on.
It’s more like corruption than incentive.