DIDSBURY – Town council has been given an update on COVID-19-related measures being undertaken by the municipality, including costs related to the loss of penalty revenue.
In a special report presented to Didsbury's municipal council at a recent regularly scheduled council meeting, chief administrative officer (CAO) Ethan Gorner outlined some of the changes and updates that have resulted from the pandemic.
Credit card administration charges for paying taxes have been waived for 2020, he said.
“Based on amount of tax payments made by credit card in 2020, this initiative was a cost to the town of $9,524,” said Gorner.
The late payment penalty of 1.5 per cent of the balance owing for all other accounts was waived for April, May and June, with the cost to the town was the loss of arrears penalties of $2,199, he said.
Regarding utility payment deferrals, he said that property owners have been given an option to defer utility payments for April, May and June billing periods without penalties applied to the deferred amounts.
“The deferred balance would be evenly applied over the payments for the remainder of the calendar year,” said Gorner. “There were 13 accounts which requested a deferral during that period. The cost to the organization was the loss of penalty revenue of $2,458.”
Regarding tax installment payment plan deferrals, property owners were also given an option to defer property tax for April, May and June without penalty.
The cost to the organization is the loss of penalty revenue of $1,527, he said.
Council waived all non-sufficient fund charges during April, May and June, at a cost of $360 in lost revenue.
Public auctions have all been suspended until 2021. “Of note, there are no longer any properties in arrears, therefore there will be no auction held for the 2020 arrears list,” he said. “The next property auction will be related to properties in arrears in 2021.”
Council accepted the special report on the COVID-19 pandemic response for information.
