WATERLOO - Condominium owners in the Icon Waterloo development are demanding the builder explain where thousands of dollars in prepaid property taxes have gone, after they received unexpected tax bills from the city.

Owners of the student-geared condo towers say they were surprised to recently get property tax bills from the City of Waterloo - after many believed they'd already paid two years' worth of taxes to the builder when they bought their units.

It's the latest controversy at the 25-storey twin highrise development on Phillip Street, which was plagued by construction and move-in delays, and complaints about broken and missing amenities when students arrived.

"I've paid my taxes already, so the builder should refund me for all the taxes they collected," said Markham's Hangmei Chen, one of the owners who bought a unit as an investment property. "This is very frustrating."

Hundreds of owners in the 600-unit building appear to have received similar surprise tax bills, but the City of Waterloo says it's an issue between those owners and the builder, and can't intervene.

The builder, Rise Real Estate of Ancaster, could not be reached for comment. Abode Student Life, the company hired to manage the building's leases, also did not respond to repeated interview requests about the property tax issue.

Rise Real Estate is the same builder behind the adjacent Icon145, a sold-out, 216-condo tower on Columbia Street West. That development has also been delayed, with many amenities still unfinished. Students who received rent rebates had to sign a form promising they wouldn't seek more compensation.

Chen, meanwhile, paid more than $3,800 in what were described as 2017 and 2018 property taxes to Rise Real Estate when she took ownership in May 2017. In November, she received a bill from the city, telling her she was on the hook for taxes from 2016, too - before the unit's sale had closed - and 2017.

Normally, the builder pays the property tax until a development is complete. Taxes become the owner's responsibility once a sale is closed. Now Chen is wondering where her money went.

"I was charged for two years of tax. They built it in to the closing costs," she said, pointing to a bill of sale that clearly includes land taxes the builder claimed it had paid.

She's not alone. Other people who own units at Icon Waterloo are complaining about the same problem on an informal condo owner's group formed on Facebook. The development still doesn't have a condo board, so owners are feeling powerless.

Others owners declined to speak publicly about the property tax battle because they didn't want to bring more bad publicity to the building, which many lease out for rental income. Some expressed hope the dispute would eventually be resolved amicably.

Chen said she's had no response about the issue from either Rise Real Estate or Abode since November. Exasperated, she paid the property tax bills herself - a total of around $3,260 - because she was worried she'd face late penalties if payment was delayed.

"I personally paid all of that, but there are a lot of other owners who are waiting," she said. "We had to pay again, or else face a penalty."

After weeks of trying to get an answer, Chen's lawyer was finally able to track down the builder's lawyer, who claimed a plan was in place to resolve the property tax issue. But nothing has happened since.

"The lawyer said 'The developer is working on it,'" she said. "But it just keeps going on."

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The City of Waterloo, meanwhile, says it can't discuss disputes over property taxes.

"We can't comment on individual property tax accounts due to privacy restrictions. If there is a disagreement between the property owners and the builder they will need to deal directly with each other to resolve it," said Tony Iavarone, director of communications for the city.