14 Apr-2021	15 Apr-2021	30 Apr-2021	14 Apr-2021
	17 May-2021	31 May-2021
	15 Jun-2021	30 Jun-2021

Late Payment Charges

As indicated above, municipal taxation is the fundamental revenue stream from which annual operating expenditures are funded. Without the necessary working capital, many of the services currently offered to residents of the City would not be able to be provided. In order to help ensure that property taxes are remitted when due, municipalities are able to levy late payment charges pursuant to Section 345 of the Act.

There are two separate late payment charges: 1) penalty and 2) interest. Penalties are applied the day after a tax instalment is due and is based on the instalment amount. Interest is applied on the first day of the month and is based on the total amount of principal tax outstanding at the end of the previous month. There is no compounding of interest. That is, late payment charges, and in particular interest, are calculated on the outstanding tax balance only.

Historically, late payment charges are established 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.

This is standard practice across the province and Administration recommends continuing with the existing late payment charges and rates where there is non-payment. While the penalty and interest percentages are significant, they are meant to provide an incentive to taxpayers to prioritize the payment of property taxes, which is critical if the municipality is to have the funds required to provide services to the community.

Taxpayers are encouraged to obtain lower cost financing from financial institutions or other sources if required in order to pay the tax levy on time. This option is being leveraged by property owners as a result of the increase in assessment values which is creating additional equity in homes. Alternatively, Administration assists property owners providing payment plans of up to five years for taxpayers in arrears. Finally, the municipality also has a program to deal with cases of extreme poverty where qualifying individuals can get complete relief from the payment of property taxes for up to two years. Applications for tax relief must be made on or before the last day of February following the tax year (i.e. February 26, 2021 for relief of 2020 property taxes).