Halifax Reaches Deal with Ottawa over Citadel Hill Taxes

The Halifax Regional Municipality has finally received money from the Federal government in a decades long dispute over the value of Citadel Hill. Parks Canada originally appraised the value of the national historic site land, for property tax purposes, at just 10-dollars – arguing it had no value because nothing could be developed on the site. Halifax has been challenging that claim in court since 1997. in 2012 The Supreme Court ruled in favour of the city and it eventually ended up before a Federal panel – which appraised the value of the land at over 41-million and ordered the Federal government to pay back taxes. Late Thursday Halifax received a 20-million-dollar payment from the federal government to settle the issue of back taxes – but Ottawa is still reviewing legislation and policy for how national historic sites should be taxed going forward.