By Cecilia Nasmith
Cobourg council this week passed a bylaw to mail out the first interim tax bills for 2021.
This is typically council's first bylaw of the year, treasurer Ian Davey pointed out, and that's true for this year with the passage of Bylaw 001-2021.
Asked by Deputy Mayor Suzanne Seguin to explain this procedure for information purposes, Davey said it would be a bill for one-third of last year's taxes for residential property owners (and 50% of last year's taxes for commercial and residential property owners. Residential owners would have until Feb. 25 to make the payment.
The bills typically go out around the first of February, Davey added, giving recipients about three weeks to pay up.
“Those payments for the first few months of the year are based on last year's total tax bill divided by 10 payments,” he said.
Councillor Brian Darling asked about people who (like himself) take advantage of the town's pre-authorized payment plan. Davey said they will get a letter from the town's finance department explaining any adjustments made.
Seguin pointed out that the COVID-19 lockdown situation – which may even become more stringent – could be affecting residential and business owners. She asked Davey to keep council abreast of anything he hears from people in this regard.
As for the 2021 budget, Seguin noted that budget deliberations are scheduled for Jan. 21 and possibly Jan. 22. The current levy is $25,157,408, which represents a 1.9% increase over 2020 after allowing for growth, and she is still planning to cut that increase down to 0.1%.
“I have been trying to find another $250,000 in savings, so I ask all members to take another look for possible savings in their portfolios.”
