Who really knows the true size of Algoma's tax bill?

Who's telling the truth about Essar Steel Algoma Inc.'s property tax bill?

Mayor Christian Provenzano?

Or Rory Ring, currently on leave as chief executive officer of Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce, currently running against Provenzano for the mayor's job?

Truth about the steelmaker's tax obligations, it seems, can be as supple and formable as Algoma's renowned steel plate, depending on who's crunching the numbers. 

Last night, Mayor Provenzano was telling us the city will be getting $21.8 million of the $23.8 million owed by Algoma for the tax years 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Today, Ring issued a stinging riposte, calculating total taxes owed from the time Algoma entered insolvency protection until now at more than $36 million.

"The mayor is misrepresenting the facts," Ring said.

"I have been engaged with stakeholders on the Essar-Algoma tax file in my role as CEO of the chamber. I know that there was no victory and in fact what the mayor is shading as a victory is actually one of the biggest boondoggles in the history of this city."

The mayor's numbers were corroborated Monday by Shelley Schell, the city's treasurer and chief financial officer, who said the negotiated settlement is about $4 million less than what the city would otherwise have received: $2 million attributable to lost assessment and $2 million to waived interest.

Ring said all data in his open letter came from affidavits and sworn testimony filed by the city in Algoma's insolvency proceedings.

"If you would like, I can send you copies."

Today, SooToday took Ring up on that, asking him to provide evidence for his claim that Algoma was on the hook for $36 million, not $23.8 million.

After a couple of hours, he responded, pointing us to an affidavit filed by city solicitor Nuala Kenny on Apr. 18, 2017.

The numbers in Kenny's affidavit roughly corresponded to the mayor's figures: Algoma owed the city $14 million for back taxes at the time it filed for protection from its creditors in November 2015, plus an additional $10.8 million plus interest for post-filing taxes as of Apr. 5, 2017.

But Ring was unable to cite a source for his claim that Algoma's tax bill grew approximately $650,000 each month after that.

"A lot of the numbers in the early report are based on the earlier assessment," Provenzano told SooToday.

"I fully expected that this would be politicized. It's natural. We're in a political campaign. I think it's unfortunate, but I'm not surprised that Mr. Ring has so quickly attacked my honesty and integrity."

"I take a lot of pride in being direct and honest with people. My reputation means a lot to me and I wouldn't do anything to affect that."

"It's natural he's going to take shots at the mayor. When you take shots at the mayor you're really taking shots at city staff. The people I worked with on this file are all honest, upstanding."

"He's saying I did everything. This was a team effort," Provenzano said.

Ring's statement today blamed Provenzano for deciding to hire a Toronto law firm "to sue Essar-Algoma and its lenders for unpaid taxes."

"That decision cost the taxpayers $535,000. The lawsuit contributed absolutely nothing to the amount of the settlement and it was a pure waste of money and time."

In fact, no such lawsuit was launched. Algoma has been protected from creditor lawsuits since November, 2015.

That's exactly why companies file for insolvency protection.

The city did retain outside legal specialists, but that decision was made by City Council, not the mayor.

Ring nonetheless believes the Toronto lawyers were a bad idea.

"The city, by provincial legislation, has a first claim if a company can’t pay its taxes. This right is the equivalent of a lien on the lands of the company. A city never has to sue to collect taxes. Cities have a right to lien lands and get paid first. But the mayor insisted on going to court rather than working out a plan to get paid," Ring said.

The chamber CEO also accused Provenzano of not being upfront yesterday about the significant reduction in the assessed value of Algoma's property holdings, resulting in a major tax break for the steelmaker.

But the mayor mentioned that fact prominently in both his presentations yesterday to City Council and to CTV, the Sault Star, CBC and SooToday.

In a briefing done for SooToday one hour before yesterday's City Council meeting, the mayor stressed the assessment change as the point he most wished to communicate.

"We the city took a significant amount of time to explain the tax situation to the media and the public," Provenzano said.

Ring admits his $36 million figure may need some tweaking, but he says that's exactly the point.

"Where's the transparency here?" he asks. "What is the real number?"

"$36 million is a reasonable number, no matter how you slice it. But that's the point. What's the number. What we're saying is what is that real number? There needs to be real transparency on what the real number is."

"I'm sure that the city will come back and say how complex this issue is."

"The unions have negotiated themselves a great deal. We should have taken lessons from [Steelworkers] Locals 2251 and 2724. Why did we spend a half-million dollars to get a zero result? They paid their lawyers first before they paid the citizens of Sault Ste. Marie."

"As a resident paying taxes, if I said to the city 'I can't pay you,' they're not going to give you 45 per cent off your taxes. They're going to say pay your taxes or we're going to take your house."