THAT City Council APPROVE the tax collection dates as presented in Table 2; and,

THAT City Council MAINTAIN the prescribed maximum rate for late payment charges as follows:

1 ¼% of the amount of tax due and unpaid as a penalty for non-payment on the first day of default; and,

1 ¼% of the amount of tax due and unpaid as interest for non-payment on the first day of each month; and,

THAT the City Solicitor BE AUTHORIZED to prepare the necessary by-laws.

Executive Summary:

On January 27, 2020 City Council approved the 2020 municipal budget that resulted in a total levy requirement of $426.6 million. Included in this levy was $2.3 million which will come from property assessment growth (new development/new taxpayers) and the collection of education taxes of $63.7 million. The remaining $361.5 million was anticipated to be collected from existing taxpayers representing an expected 2.12% increase in property taxes. Consistent with prior year and to ensure adequate cash resources until such time as the budget was approved and final tax rates could be established, Administration prepared and issued Interim Property Tax Bills which equated to $208 million or 50% of the total 2019 property tax levy.

On March 12, 2020, the province announced the closing of schools to combat the spread of Covid-19. This was soon followed by the closing of many City facilities and non-essential businesses. On March 25, 2020, City Council approved interim measures that would assist taxpayers on a short-term basis with the payment of the 3rd instalment of interim property taxes, C127/2020. Taxpayers were given the option to defer this final tax instalment to June 30, 2020 without penalty or interest.

To date, the City has been utilizing cash from payments received and existing cash reserves to fund municipal operations and will continue to do so for the first half of the year. However, in order to continue to support ongoing operations and to avoid the depletion of cash reserves, Administration will be required to prepare and issue Final Property Tax bills.