Fourteen lots could be on the auction block if taxes aren’t paid in full by mid December.
Red Deer city council has unanimously passed holding the Dec. 16 tax sale at 11 a.m. in City Hall.
The properties will be sold that day, unless tax arrears are paid up by then. The city has not sold a property at such a sale in recent years because owners end up paying their taxes.
Mayor Morris Flewwelling said this auction sale is a signal to owners that the city is getting tough on their payment delays.
He also found it interesting that five of the 14 properties are at Monarch Place, the condominium complex that was originally constructed and operated as a handicapped housing project for low-income residents. A housing society then owed the city and the province money for the construction.