During the year’s final Battleford town council meeting, the topic of whether or not to decrease town property tax discounts was a point of contention.
Town property tax discounts are currently eight per cent in January (such that residents receive an eight per cent discount if they pay their property taxes on or prior to Jan. 31), seven per cent in February, six per cent in March, four per cent in April, two per cent in May, and par from June to August.
Meanwhile, tax penalties are currently one per cent for September, with each following month adding one per cent in penalties. Outstanding taxes on Jan. 1 of the following year result in a 10 per cent penalty. The discount only applies to the town portion of property taxes, not to school or frontage taxes.
According to CAO John Enns-Wind’s administrative report, “in recent years the discount rate has been declining because it is an expense. In 2016 the discount expense to the town was approximately $205,000 and in 2017 $150,000 was allocated.”
The report also states “the tax discount in 2017 is the amount budgeted for sidewalks in 2018.”
The report presented two options for council, although there was the opportunity to present different options.
Option A would keep the tax discounts as status quo. Option B would see tax discounts decrease to seven per cent in January, six per cent in February, four per cent in March, two per cent in April, and par in May, June, July, and August.
Councillors who supported remaining status quo were Judy Pruden, Gordon Yarde, Kevin Russell, and Shelley Boutin-Gervais.
Councillor Judy Pruden said she’d prefer to concentrate on and possibly incentivize those who don’t pay, rather than on those who pay early in good faith.
Councillors Russell and Yarde voiced similar opinions as each other: that the discounts are attractive to residents and potential residents. Councillor Russell said the discounts act as incentives for residents to pay their taxes early, and Yarde said discounts are motivation for new immigrants to move to Battleford.
Councillor Shelley Boutin-Gervais also agreed, and suggested possibly increasing the penalties for residents who don’t pay.
Mayor Ames Leslie and Councillor Susan McLean-Tady supported decreasing the tax discounts.
“I’d really like to see it go down lower so that we don’t have to add more on when we’re doing our budget,” McLean-Tady said, and said she’d like to see a tax discount scale that begins at five per cent in January, and incrementally decreases by one per cent each following month.
Mayor Ames Leslie was also for decreasing the tax discount, and said, as did McLean-Tady, doing so would to some extent prevent increasing taxes at a later date.
“A one per cent difference on the average house in this community is $18, that the person is going to pay more on that person’s home. Part of me says someone who can afford to pay their taxes in full in January, $18 probably isn’t going to make a difference to; $18 times 1,000 homes, that's half a per cent that we don’t have to raise taxes,” Leslie said.
One reason the town would increase taxes is because of decreased revenue from the provincial government.
“From a financial management piece, no bank is giving anyone eight per cent,” Leslie said, and McLean-Tady agreed.
Councillor Pruden emphasized the importance of the perception of the discount, rather than the specific amount residents must pay.
Council voted 4-2 to keep the tax discounts status quo.
