MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - County council has given first reading to 2022 property tax administration bylaw No. 27/21, which includes a proposed payment incentive of one per cent on tax bills paid in full by June 30.
The move came by way of motion at the Nov. 10 regularly scheduled council meeting, with councillors instructing administration to come back with further information prior to possible second reading.
Administration had proposed continuing with the existing one per cent early tax payment incentive in place in 2021.
The payment incentives section in the new bylaw states that for “taxpayers not utilizing the tax instalment payment plan the following incentive shall apply for payments received prior to the tax deadline of Sept. 15: If the total amount owning is paid by June 30, a one per cent reduction in the total tax bill will be applied.”
The tax penalty rates for 2022 are also outlined in the bylaw. Beginning in 2020, a penalty charge of three per cent will be charged on Jan. 2, three per cent on Mar. 16, two per cent on June 16, and four per cent on Sept. 16.
The charges would be applied to any past-due property tax amounts until the property tax account is paid in full. As well, penalties imposed would be compounded when a tax balance remains outstanding.
The tax instalment payment plan for 2022 would allow ratepayers who do not have tax arrears owed to the county for a period of not more than two years to apply to enter into the plan to provide for the payment of taxes, in monthly instalments, from January to December, in any year, subject to conditions.
Those conditions include for the first six months of the current year the taxpayers shall pay a monthly payment equivalent to one-twelfth of the estimated tax, and for the last six months of the current year the taxpayers shall make monthly payments equivalent to one-sixth of the balance of actual taxes.
Council instructed administration to bring back further information before considering second reading.
That information includes whether the county could adopt a split rate for penalties depending on tax class and how many taxpayers currently have outstanding taxes owed, including oil and gas companies.
Administration would like to see the changes in place by January, so the proposed bylaw will likely come back at one of two scheduled council meetings in December, council heard.
