By ROY WOOD

Oliver council will wait at least two weeks to decide whether to move the property tax deadline back to the fall as part of its Covid-19 relief package.

The reason for the delay is that the town collects taxes for several other entities and it’s not clear when those funds will have to be paid out.

Besides the town property taxes, the yearly bill includes levies for the regional district, school board, hospital district and the library board. Those funds, which total about $2.6 million, are scheduled to paid to those organizations between July 9 and August 1.

If those deadlines aren’t changed and the town moves the tax deadline to September, the cash flow situation could require the town to dip into reserve funds or use its line of credit.

Chief financial officer Doug Leahy told council that Oliver and other municipalities are urging the province to facilitate delays in the obligations to other entities. He said that if those deadlines are eased, it would be financially easier for the town to delay the local tax deadline.

Currently, the town tax deadline is July 2 with a 10-per-cent penalty effective July 3.

Two options offered in Leahy’s report to council were:

• Tax notices be sent out in May with a due date of August 31 with a five-per-cent penalty effective September 1 and a further five per cent December 1. 
• Notices sent in May with a September 30 due date and fire-per-cent penalties on October 1 and December 31.

Councillor Aimee Grice said she favoured the September 30 date. She offered the alternative of maintaining the July 2 deadline but with the penalties delayed until September and December.

Councillor Larry Schwartzenberger said that given all that the town has already done, including water rate relief and eliminating the planned tax increase, he isn’t sure the deferral is necessary. 

“We’ve done more than what other towns have done,” he said. He added that he would agree to maintaining the July 2 date but delaying the penalties for unpaid taxes.

Councillor Petra Veintimilla said she would “prefer to sit on this until we know what the province is going to do.”

Mayor Martin Johansen said he expects the province to make a decision soon. “The biggest challenge we have is to have to pay the RDOS and the school board before we get the money (from taxpayers).”

Leahy told council he will do the necessary research and come back with a report either April 27 or May 11.

Council agreed to defer a decision.