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The City of Toronto has listed Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment as one of the city’s biggest property tax nonpayers, according to a report.
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MLSE has an unpaid bill of around $1.18 million, dating to the 2019 tax year, the CBC reported on Wednesday, citing the recent release of the annual list of largest property tax debtors.
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That public release happened back in April at a meeting of Toronto’s general government committee, according to the report.
The CBC said MLSE disputes the charge and says it’s in discussions with the city to resolve the issue. The conglomerate owns the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC, Toronto Argonauts and other teams, plus some venues. The dispute apparently stems from one of those venues, BMO Field, which is located at Exhibition Place, and is owned by the City of Toronto.
MLSE told the CBC in a statement TFC and the Argonauts play at BMO Field under a “management agreement” with the city and that the teams pay a “user fee” and not rent to do so. MLSE believes, therefore, that they shouldn’t be hit with a property tax fee like other tenants at Exhibition Place.
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“The ultimate responsibility for the payment of realty taxes rests with the owner,” MLSE’s statement to the CBC says. “And MLSE is neither the owner of the property nor a tenant.”
MLSE also said its agreements with the city for the other two Exhibition Place properties it leases — the homes of the Toronto Marlies and the practice facility for the Raptors — are different.
“As is publicly known, MLSE leases two properties on the Exhibition Place grounds, OVO Athletic Centre and Coca-Cola Coliseum, where all rents and taxes for which it is responsible have been duly and punctually paid,” the MLSE statement said.
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The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) told CBC in another statement said MLSE’s renovations to BMO Field impacted things.
“BMO Field was previously exempt from taxation,” MPAC said in the emailed statement. “There were renovations and additions to BMO Field in or around 2016 that caused MPAC to review the entire property. In addition, in 2014, MLSE entered into a new Management Agreement for BMO Field, which was not provided to MPAC until in 2018.”
MPAC also said MLSE would need to serve MPAC and the City of Toronto with an application to have it assessed as exempt from taxation.
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