Alberta: Kneehill council wants dialogue with minister over unpaid oil and gas taxes

KNEEHILL, AB. Sept. 18, 2026 – Kneehill County council decided it wants to meet with the Government of Alberta’s Municipal Affairs minister to discuss unpaid property taxes from the oil and gas industry. The resolution was passed at the Sept. 8 regular meeting of council.

Chief Administrative officer (CAO) Theresa Cochrane presented councillors with a reminder that the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) convention is coming up soon and there will be a chance for county councillors to meet with provincial ministers such as Dan Williams (Municipal Affairs).

As councillors discussed possible meetings with provincial government ministers, Reeve Lonnie McCook seemed skeptical of discussing the topic of unpaid oil and gas industry property taxes with Minister of Municipal Affairs Dan Williams. “Pretty much smoke and mirrors is all,” said McCook.

The topic of unpaid property taxes from Alberta’s oil and gas industry has been a hot topic among rural municipalities recently, as unpaid debts range from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars while municipalities have virtually no tool to recover that money.

“I mean it’s just a never-ending battle and he’s not listening,” said McCook, who added that Kneehill County continues to lose property taxes to oil and gas companies that don’t pay, citing a recent example of a company that left a $400,000 property tax bill unpaid.

Councillor Jerry Wittstock stated that council should request a meeting with Williams to discuss this issue at the RMA convention, noting that the provincial government allows oil and gas companies to operate “...until there is nothing left,” and when a company shuts down unpaid municipal property taxes are usually far down the list of creditors.

Wittstock stated the Government of Alberta should be doing its job and turning down or suspending oil and gas licenses if property taxes are unpaid or if surface leases are unpaid. “I think those are a couple of requirements right in there, but the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) seems to not really care and they say, ‘Well, give us a list,’” said Wittstock. “Well, we give them a list every year. They choose not to look at the list.” Wittstock added that municipal concerns about unpaid oil and gas property taxes have been voiced to the provincial government before.

Councillor Laura Lee Machell-Cunningham observed that when she’s contacted by ratepayers with oil and gas industry concerns she advises them to contact the AER because that’s who’s responsible; she stated that to satisfy her curiosity about how the complaint process unfolds, she contacted the AER herself, “...and I have to say it was like chasing a gopher around a field,” said Machell-Cunningham.

Councillors unanimously agreed to request a meeting with Minister Williams to discuss nonpayment of taxes with oil and gas companies and Municipal Government Act downloading to municipalities.

Stu Salkeld is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter with The Canadian Press.