Prince Albert residents experiencing economic hardship because of the COVID-19 pandemic are now going to have a little more time to pay their utility bills.
In a special meeting Wednesday night, council passed a motion that waves late payment fees on water bills from Apr. 1 to Sept. 30.
For residents and businesses that qualify, the property tax deadline has also been extended from June 30 to Sept. 30.
This change was passed in a separate council motion.
Mayor Greg Dionne said a number of residents have lost their jobs and businesses shut their doors because of the pandemic and council feels it is important to take this into account.
“We want to give people some comfort,” he said. “The property tax bill isn’t due until the end of June but it’s all tied to when the pandemic is over. We don’t know. We may be talking four months and the pandemic is still not over and what are we going to do? If the people don’t get back to work then we are going to have to deal with that when it happens.”
All residents have the option of waiting to pay water bills without financial penalty until Sept. 30.
There are qualifications, though, to defer property taxes until the end of September without incurring a penalty.
For residents, it must be shown employment income has been terminated for six consecutive weeks because of COVID-19 due to a layoff, necessity of providing care for children under 12-years-of-age or required self-isolation due to potential exposure to the virus.
Businesses must demonstrate a loss of at least 30 per cent in revenues due to the pandemic in order to qualify.
The city is expecting to collect roughly $58 million in property taxes in 2020.
So far, it is estimated about $11 million has been collected.
In order to make up the shortfall, Prince Albert has the option of extending its line of credit by $10 million at a rate of 1.7 per cent and borrowing another $10 million in the form of a short-term loan at three per cent.
Dionne said the city has the financial wherewithal to explore a number of options.
“Well borrowing is not an issue. One thing I am very proud of in our city is we have a very low debt ratio and we have lots of money available to us. But I’m not going to borrow money. The key to debt is managing it. So, the amount that we’re asking for, we can manage without any problem.”
The city estimates it will lose about $189,000 in revenue by foregoing penalty charges on utility bills from Apr. 1 to Sept. 30.
Prince Albert has not conducted any water shut offs for residents in arrears since the third week of March because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Council also debated changes to Prince Albert’s commercial property tax bylaw Wednesday night.
The proposed bylaw would increase the mill rate by 3.5 per cent for commercial properties assessed at between $5 million and $10 million ad 9 per cent for properties $10 million and over.
The bylaw still needs to pass third reading.
(PHOTO: Prince Albert city hall. Photo by Fraser Needham.)