LAC LA BICHE - It’s business as usual for Lac La Biche mayor Paul Reutov while council and administration wait for the courts to decide if he is disqualified from sitting on council for alleged tax arrears.
Reutov chaired the regular council meeting on March 4.
In an e-mailed statement, Alex Fuller, a communication coordinator for the Lac La Biche County said “per council’s motion, administration has referred this matter to the County’s legal counsel for follow-up. At this point, we do not have an expected timeline for the court to make a decision.”
Lac La Biche council made a motion to file an application with the Court of King’s Bench if Reutov did not resign by 4:30 p.m. on March 3.
According to Deputy Mayor Jason Stedman, the motion did not ask Reutov to resign, it “was a motion to outline the next steps in the process if the mayor chooses not to.”
Reutov did not resign, calling it an honest mistake, and in an interview March 5, said “council has the option, even as part of the MGA [Municipal Governments Act] to do nothing. The council did not have to ask me to resign. They asked, because of [an] individual pushing the issue . . . They're basically just saying we don't want to make the decision, let the courts decide. But in the meantime, I stay on.”
The alleged tax arrears came to light after Lac La Biche County received an information request from a member of the public for tax certificates.
Under their policy, tax certificates can be requested by anyone who provides the legal land description of the property and pays the $35 fee. The county will not conduct a search based on personal information like a name and does not release previously disclosed tax certificates without the legal land description and the fee.
“While processing the request, it was determined that the certificates were for properties belonging to Mayor Paul Reutov, and one was in arrears in excess of $50,” said Stedman.
Reutov declined to say how much was in arrears, but said he mailed all the payments at the same time in October.
“We didn't get any statements until mid-January, after the postal strike. We got our mail after November's mail at the end of January,” said Reutov.
“As soon as this was brought to my attention, I paid it immediately,” said Reutov
