Funny side of tax assessment
Some owners will go to great lengths to avoid property taxes.
Veteran assessor Archie Fieldgate, aged 73, shared some stories at a Moose Jaw session on commercial assessment. There was the fellow in Saskatoon in the 1970s who believed assessors visited his neighbourhood every October. Every year he trucked in junk from a farm and dumped it on his front law until November to make the property look less valuable.
In another year there was an incorrect rumour that storage use was not assessed. Fieldgate came to assess one house. The owner took him into the fully developed basement.
The first room they came to had an elaborate gold sign on the door. It read: Storage Room.
“See that young fellow?” the owner pointed to the sign and opened the door. The room was obviously a rec room. “Here’s where I store my couch,” said the owner. “Here’s where I store my TV. Here’s where I store my bar. I store my booze behind it.”
Next room they came to had the same gold sign on the door. It was a bedroom but the owner explained he stored a bed there. Four rooms in that basement were designated storage rooms.
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net