November 21, 2024

The Queens County Citizen

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Levi’s Convention Center: Gagne family refuses to pay $800,000 in municipal taxes

Levi's Convention Center: Gagne family refuses to pay $800,000 in municipal taxes

Promoter Pierre Gagne, who runs the Center des Congres de Lévis, and his sons refused to pay more than $800,000 in property taxes, leading to pressure on the city, which determined they were not owed the money.

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In an interview, Carl Gagne confirmed that he was well aware of the defaults piling up from 2020.

In a list of unpaid taxes made public Wednesday, we can see several outstanding amounts with high interest — for buildings owned by the family — which includes the convention center, the Sheraton Hotel and part of adjacent buildings. .

$4 million outstanding amount?

“Taxes, we don’t have a problem paying them, but we pay them when we have money to pay,” Carl Gagne stressed by phone, noting the city committed to paying $2.5 million in 2017. After the expansion of the Center des Congres.

The file is “complicated”, he explained without further details. With interest, Mr. Gagne estimated the total to be about $4 million.

“We’ve had tough years with the pandemic, and a lot of people can’t do without about $4 million,” he stressed.

Carl Gagne, who is at loggerheads with the city over his hotel project in Quay Pocket, has called an emergency meeting with the mayor.

“totally wrong”

“We’re not getting into that. It’s totally wrong,” replied Mayor Gilles Lehoulier. “They have to pay their taxes. Citizens can’t take justice into their own hands. If everyone does that, we’re in a total mess,” he said.

The city’s interim director general, Dominique Deslauriers, goes further.

“This is fiction. We have no convention, protocol, agreement or agreement that requires us to pay them any $2.5 million debt. Nothing at all. »

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