Sable Property Assessments Released

Nova Scotia's Sable gas-related properties have been assessed at more than $900 million. The assessments were delivered to the property owners and municipalities today.

The combined value of the gas plant at Goldboro, the gas fractionation plant at Point Tupper and the main distribution pipeline will increase Nova Scotia's commercial tax base by 12 per cent in a single year.

"Our assessors determined these values very carefully, after examining the best practices in petroleum assessment," said John MacKay, executive director of Assessment at the Department of Housing and Municipal Affairs. "We've based our assessments on numbers that were supplied by the industry and independently verified."

The assessments have been added to the property tax base of the six municipalities in which the plants and pipeline are located: Guysborough, Richmond, Cumberland, Colchester, Pictou and St. Mary's. With both the Sable Offshore Energy Project gas plant and a sizeable stretch of Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline, the largest beneficiary is Guysborough County, which has seen its commercial assessment base jump by 850 per cent.

The municipalities use the assessments in calculating the property tax levy. The assessment notices delivered today will be included in that calculation for the 2000-01 fiscal year.

"This is a new industry in this province, but we've done our homework," said Mr. MacKay. "We've made use of the best expertise available in the world."

The Sable assessments were independently reviewed by Stone and Webster Management Consultants, an international consulting firm that has more than 100 years of experience in the natural gas industry. The company conducted on-site examinations of the Sable-related properties, analysed the data and compared the Nova Scotian values with comparable infrastructure elsewhere in Canada and around the world.

"We're convinced that our approach is fair," said Mr. MacKay. "If the companies disagree, there's an appeal process available that they can use to challenge our assessment."