By Cecilia Nasmith
Certain measures that the Town of Cobourg has taken to assist residents financially through the COVID-19 pandemic were extended at council's committee-of-the-whole meeting Monday.
Deputy Mayor Suzanne Seguin's motion that was passed by council had three parts:
Transit services will continue on the schedule council approved on April 14, with fares waived through May 31.
Also through May 31, free parking will continue in municipal lots and at municipal parking meters.
Taxpayers on pre-authorized payment plans who have concerns about the upcoming June 10 instalment are invited to contact the finance department to discuss payment arrangements.
The Downtown Business Improvement Area requested a longer free-parking period, Seguin added, and that may happen at some future time.
Councillor Adam Bureau proposed an amendment to add two more parts to the motion.
On behalf of Cobourg residents, the town will request Northumberland County council to extend its one-free-bag-of-garbage-weekly policy beyond its current May 29 end date, to remain in effect until the emergency declaration is lifted.
“Our residents really need that,” Bureau stated.
“I did a couple of Facebook posts, and one of the major things was keeping social distancing and the one free garbage bag until the end of the emergency.”
The garbage request, Seguin pointed out, was at the discretion of county council and entirely beyond Cobourg council's mandate.
Bureau's other suggestion was made in light of the town closing all its municipal facilities, programs and tourism. The resulting significant loss of revenue will be felt by all residents, so his amendment called upon the town to contact MP Philip Lawrence, MPP David Piccini and both the Federal and provincial ministers of finance to request financial relief.
Mayor John Henderson said something of the kind is already going on.
“Personally, I would like the opportunity to express our interest in where those measures may be, not only in the Town of Cobourg but all of Peterborough South, to see if there is a common element going forward,” Henderson said.
“I have not had that discussion at this point.”
Much like the Eastern Ontario Wardens Caucus at county level, Henderson finds that discussions in which the parties are unified – all municipalities within the Northumberland-Peterborough South riding, for instance – prove more fruitful.
“I would first like to be able to have that dialogue, as opposed to throwing a motion at them,” the mayor said.
Bureau was agreeable to withdrawing his motion.
“I basically wanted our residents to know we are advocating on their behalf,” he said.
“I just wanted our citizens to know we are working on financial relief. Even though it's starting to open up, it doesn't mean the financial burden is done.”
Councillor Emily Chorley had a question of her own.
“In March, there was a waiver of penalties and interest charged on unpaid property taxes,” Chorley recalled.
“Why haven't staff brought that forward for an extension.”
Acting chief administrative officer Ian Davey had been in contact with other municipalities offering similar concessions, and reported that they do not always help those who need it most.
“At any given point in time, there are taxpayers who are in arrears on their taxes,” Davey said.
“What we have found, and what we have heard through this difficult situation across the province is that, by waiving penalties and interest on all accounts, it does not really benefit people who are currently having an issue with their taxes. It's helping people who are traditionally delinquent on their account.
“We have done that for a couple of months, and it's time to put that back in place.”
