Weyburn Finance Manager/City Assessor Brenna Keeler announced recently that the City will no longer be offering a discount for prepayment of property taxes.
"This was a difficult decision. We have always been focused on finding as many ways as possible to keep our ratepayers' taxes as low as possible. Unfortunately, this program is no longer feasible. After long discussion and analysis, we realized that this discount is no longer cost effective," Keeler said.
Previously, the City had been offering a 2.5% discount to property owners who paid their taxes before the end of March. Recent analysis showed that the City was only earning 0.8%-1.3% interest on these prepayments, meaning that the City was essentially subsidizing early payers.
"It just isn't fiscally responsible for us to be paying out more money than we are taking in on these taxes," said Keeler.
Keeler noted that, going forward, property owners will receive their tax notice in May each year and taxes are due on July 31 of that year. The City also offers other options for payment including the preauthorized payment program in which ratepayers can pay their tax levy over 12 months with automatic withdrawals. There is no fee to participate in this program.
For further information, please contact Brenna Keeler at 848-CITY(2489) or email [email protected].
