The property tax due date has been pushed until at least June 1 for HRM residents

The property tax due date has been pushed until at least June 1 for HRM residents.

At a virtual council meeting on April 14, Halifax Regional Council voted unanimously to implement financial relief measures to help alleviate the effects of COVID-19.

“We realize that with COVID-19, really this has created an economic insecurity for many of the residents and businesses of HRM,” said Deputy Mayor Lisa Blackburn, who put the motion on the floor.

The motion included deferring the property tax due date until June 1, as well as lowering the arrears fees for overdue accounts from 15 per cent to 10 per cent, and eliminating non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees which were $40 each.

“Relief is going to have to come in a number of phases and from a number of sources. So this is meant really to be our short term plan,” said Blackburn.

Municipal staff made a presentation about the financial impacts of the tax deferral. Halifax CFO Jane Fraser told council that the city projected a loss of $223 million from COVID-19, with $188 million of that coming from tax deferral.

“Municipalities are obviously reviewing budget and service levels as well as reserve balances. The concern is that if it goes too long that all the cash reserves will be depleted,” Fraser said.

Many councillors said this is not the only help they hope to provide, but that it was the first step.

“Certainly a provincial solution would be better than a patchwork quilt of municipalities coming up with their own solutions,” said Blackburn.

Councillor Shawn Cleary said more help may come from the provincial government, which has the jurisdiction to give out grants, something the municipality cannot do.

“There’s more help coming if we can get the province and other municipalities on board to help those who really do need the help,” Cleary said.

Councillor Matt Whitman at one point amended the motion to drop arrears fees from 15 per cent to just five per cent.

“Our cost of borrowing is under 5 per cent. You say that we’re not going to make money on this item. I don’t want to,” Whitman said.

However, city staff cautioned against this, saying it would cost the city additional revenue.

“It will cost an additional $1 million in loss. Well actually, more than one, because the amount in arrears will probably grow to a higher number,” said the CFO.

In the end, Whitman’s amendment was defeated with only councillors Hendsbee and Zurawski on his side.

Zurawski said he was willing to do whatever it would take to be there for residents who were struggling financially – even if it meant the city going into debt.

“Even though it’s going to hurt us, and cause us to go to a negative balance sheet, us going to a negative balance sheet is a whole lot better than people losing their homes,” he said during the meeting.

The original motion was passed with a unanimous vote from all 16 councillors and Mayor Savage. Staff say a PSA will go out soon in print and online to notify residents of the new tax bill due date.