Good news Bradford residents who were tardy in paying their June property tax instalment: late fees and interest charges are being waived.
In Tuesday night's meeting of BWG Council, councillors voted in favour of a staff recommendation that the late fees and penalties be dropped, due to confusion over the deferred due date.
When COVID hit in March, in an effort to help residents, council and staff pushed the due date of the second property tax instalment from April 28 to June 26, waiving all late fees and interest charges until July 27. The third and fourth instalment property tax bills originally due at the end of June and and September were also pushed back, to Aug. 25 and Nov. 27 respectively.
However, the final tax bills sent out by the town included any overdue amounts, not paid by June 26, in the total for the Aug. 25 instalment - leading some residents to believe that the entire payment wasn't due until August.
In fact, the second instalment was due on June 26, and interest and late fees started to accrue in July.
A total of 397 property owners were confused by the overlap, resulting in $6,418.03 in late fees and interest, and many calls to the town regarding the Aug. 25 payment.
Staff recommended council approve the waiving of the late fees and interest for the 397 taxpayers.
"Because of the Covid release measures there was a bit of an overlap. It created a potential for some confusion for when that amount was actually due," explained town treasurer, Ian Goodfellow.
However, staff made no such recommendation for the 1,138 tax accounts that are in arrears and so far in 2020 have accrued $42,242.16 in late fees and interest, but have made no efforts to pay their taxes.
The issue of tax arrears came up during other discussions during the meeting. Goodfellow was asked if the number in arrears was higher this year, due to COVID.
"It's a little bit higher... but not significantly larger," said Goodfellow, noting that in an average year, about 1,000 homeowners might be in arrears with their property taxes.
"We need a contingency plan," said Coun. Gary Lamb, suggesting that staff do more to promote the town's 10 month pre-approved-payment plan to residents, which allows for a smaller payment made once a month for 10 months, instead of four large payments.
Goodfellow and Chief Administrative Officer for the town Geoff McKnight confirmed the payment plan is their most popular payment option among residents. It is also easy to administer, and provides the town with a steady cash flow.
"It really is a plan that is a win-win for both parties," said Goodfellow.
Mayor Rob Keffer thanked the finance department staff for their efforts in identifying the issue.
"We were wanting to help our residents defer payment. This is the best way to help our residents so we aren’t charging the interest penalty," he said. As for the ongoing pandemic, "It's still largely unknown what the impact will be, moving into the future."
