Tiny Township residents will be given tax respite until June 26.
The decision to extend the dealines on taxes, interest and waiving of fees related to non-sufficient funds cheques was made at the committee of the whole meeting held today. The meeting was live streamed via the township's YouTube channel.
The decision was subsequently approved at the regular council meeting, which took place later the same day.
Previously, the due date for current taxes was extended until May 1, however, staff said in its report that continuing lockdown conditions forced them to revisit this extension.
"It's reasonable to say the hardships and results of impacts of the pandemic will be felt for some months," said Doug Taylor, director of finance and administration. "That is why at this point in time, we're recommending the end of June, and the caveat that this could continue beyond that. We will likely aprpoach council to see what the future looks like at that point in time."
Several other Ontario municipalities have made similar moves where tax payments are concerned, he added. And once council has approved this deferral, the county will also defer its portion of taxes until the same date.
Deputy Mayor Steffen Walma inquired about the provincvial portion of the taxes (education tax) and if that was being deferred until the June date as well.
Taylor said the province has deferred it until September.
"Some people pay their taxes through their mortgages through the bank," Walma asked. "To stop that, is it the township that initiates that or do the individuals have to do that?"
Taylor said that would have to be done by residents, some of whom have already made the move to suspend payments after talking to their banks. He said it's the same case where pre-authorized payments were concerned, adding that said payments are automatically defaulted to not processed unless residents call in to give staff explicit approval to go ahead.
The staff report included in the committee of the whole agenda says that it is difficult to estimate the revenue foregone by waiving penalties and interest at this time as it depends directly on the amounts not paid by the due dates.
The report also states that penalties and interest will continue to accrue on pre-2020 that are already past due.
Staff estimates that penalties and interest on current-year taxes will be impacted by approximately $35,000 per month. This amount will decline as payments are eventually received and processed. It is important to note that about half of this monthly estimate will not have been budgeted, since the amount of unpaid current-year taxes would have been estimated at a much lower level.
