As previously mentioned, the issuance of the final property tax bills is based upon the total approved budget of $426.6 million inclusive of education property taxes levied on behalf of the Province. The timing for the mailing and the payment dates have been set back from what has typically been followed in past years so as to assist taxpayers by deferring the payment to some extent however such dates cannot extend beyond December 31, 2020. It is acknowledged that there is a cost associated with the extension of the first due date in terms of lost interest revenue from the payments that would have otherwise been received. This cost is difficult to measure in isolation as it can be influenced by factors such as increased use of pre-authorized payment plans by taxpayers now wanting to spread their tax payments over a longer period of time and cost mitigation measures and expenditures deferrals such as the payment of the school board remittances. This cost would be in addition to the foregone revenues from the previously approved deferrals for the interim tax payments.

At this time, the development of potential property tax relief programs which may serve to assist taxpayer with the payment of property taxes is underway in consultation with other municipalities and municipal associations. Any recommendations coming from this review will be brought forward to City Council at a later date.

Consultations:

Municipal Tax Equity Consultants (MTE) Ltd.

Large Industrial	1.21%	$24.03	0.26%
Pipeline	2.09%	$60.75	0.91%

In other words, for the average residential homeowner who had a property assessment increase equal to the average increase of 2.94%, the property tax bill will be higher by approximately 2.15% or $57.73. It should be noted that the approved budget estimated the impact to the existing taxpayers to be 2.12%. Included in this increase was an amount to be used towards the City’s Asset Management Plan. At the time of budget approval, consideration to showing the incremental contribution to the asset management plan separately on the property tax bill was discussed. Unfortunately, due to significant property tax system limitations, the ability to show this levy is not currently available. Significant programming changes would need to be made within the current system which is no longer supported by the vendor. Administration is in the process of seeking alternatives for a new property tax system as has been presented to City Council in recent Capital Budgets. As such, efforts in regards have been deferred as a result of current events however the ability to identify separate amounts on a property tax bill have been included specifically in the system requirements document for the new system.