The City of Sault Ste. Marie will be reimbursed for a $1.5-million tax shortfall lost through Algoma Steel's financial restructuring. Minister of Municipal Affairs Chris Hodgson provided a one-time allocation of $1.526 million from a special assistance fund following the city's application for help last fall. Hodgson urged the city to use the money for economic diversification options to attract new business and industry to the area. The city wrote off about $2.5 million in taxes to assist Algoma in its restructuring. The company is expected to pay its tax balance of $5 million for 2001 in instalments at the end of 2002 and 2003.
