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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCS 05/01 - REPORT TO COUNCIL FROM: Gillis A. Paterson Director, Corporate Services & Treasurer DATE: February 6, 2001 REPORT NUMBER: CS 05-01 SUBJECT: 2001 Interim Levy and Interim Tax Installment Due Dates - Revised RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that report CS 05-01 of the Director, Corporate Services & Treasurer be received by Council and that: 1. 2. 3. - 4. revised interim levy installment due dates be March 12, and April 26, 2001 be adopted; that By-Law 5793/01 establishing the original due dates of February 26 and April 26, 2001 be repealed; the attached By-Law, providing for the imposition of the taxes and incorporating the revised due dates, be read three times and approved by Council; the Director, Corporate Services & Treasurer be authorized to make any changes or undertake any actions necessary, including altering due dates, in order to ensure the tax billing process is completed; and, 5. the appropriate City of Pickering officials be authorized to take the necessary actions to give effect thereto. ORIGIN: Director, Corporate Services & Treasurer AUTHORITY: Municipal Act, R.S.O. 1990 as amended, Section 370(1) FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: ,- Adoption of the recommendations and passing the By-Law will allow staff of the Corporate Services Department to bill the 2001 interim levy to all properties. Passing of the By-Law will assist the City of Pickering to meet its financial obligations and reduce any borrowing costs. (The first school board payment is due on March 31S\ 2001 and the payment is approximately $10.5 million.) Report to Council CS OS-Ol Date: February 6,2001 Subject: 2001 Interim Levy and Interim Tax Installment Due Dates - Revised Page 2 - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Pickering Council on February Sth, passed By-Law No. S793/01 establishing the interim levy with due dates of February 26 and April 26, 2001. There has been a delay in issuing the tax bills mainly due to computer system problems. Last December, the Province passed Bill 140 - Continued Protection for Property Taxpayers Act and this legislation changed the interim levy calculation methodology. The software vendor had to write new computer programs to accommodate the legislation changes and there have been a few problems with these new programs. BACKGROUND: Pickering Council may recall that Corporate Services Report CS 02-01 indicated that the billing due dates may be changed due to billing software problems. Unfortunately there were several problems with the tax billing software that has resulted in delays in issuing the tax bills. While Recommendation No. 3 of the above mentioned report allowed the Treasurer some latitude in adjusting the above dates, it was felt that a two week delay necessitated the approval of Council. Change in Interim Tax Billing Methodology In previous years, the interim tax levy calculation was calculated by multiplying the property's current assessed value multiplied by SO% of the tax rate. For the 2001 interim levy, Bill 140 (Continued Protection for Property Taxpayers Act) changed the calculation methodology to SO% of the actual taxes levied in 2000. The software vendor had to write new programs to accommodate the legislated changes. - Billing Software Changes & Delays When staff create or produce tax bills, the billing software program is first run in a test environment. In creating the tax bills, there are several steps involved such as balancing of the assessment and taxes. After the program has been successfully run in the test environment, the tax bills are then created in the production or actual database environment. Staff experienced software problems when they were performing the various steps. Whenever, staff experienced a problem with the billing software, they would immediately contact the vendor's customer support to ask for assistance in resolving the problem as were the other municipalities who use the software. We then had to wait for the software vendor to send a patch or fix to their software. The software vendor controls the programming source code and therefore, the City of Pickering is dependent upon the vendor to provide the solution. There was also an error with the assessment data that caused a delay in issuing the tax bills. In addition, the software vendor converted the tax system including the billing software module to run on the latest version of the oracle database software during mid January 2001. The software conversion may have also contributed to the billing delays. Proposed Billing Schedule Recommendation No.3, will allow the Director, Corporate Services & Treasurer some latitude, limited by Provincial legislation, in effecting whatever may be necessary in order to ensure that the taxes are billed properly and in a timely fashion. - Report to Council CS 05-01 Date: February 6,2001 Subject: 2001 Interim Levy and Interim Tax Installment Due Dates - Revised Page 3 -- ATTACHMENTS: 1. By-Law to Establish the 2001 Interim Installment Due Dates Prepared By: Approved / Endorsed By: :-..~;.~. -~'=~~~.~~.~~~n~.....~_... Stan Karwowski Manager, Financial Services ~~M--~~. Gillis A. Paterson Director, Corporate Services & Treasurer GAP:vw Attachment Recommended for the consideration of Pickering City Council Thomas J. Quinn, Chief Administrative Officer - .- ATTACHMENT#L TO REPORT#E..o~ -01 THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF PICKERING BY-LAW NO. Being a By-Law for the collection of taxes and to establish the installment due dates for the Interim Levy 2001. WHEREAS Section 370, subsection (1) of the Municipal Act R.S.O. 1990, as amended, provides that the Council of a local municipality may, before the adoption of the estimates for the year, under section 367, may pass a By-Law levying amounts on the assessment of property, in the local municipality ratable for local municipality purposes; and WHEREAS, the Council of the Corporation of the City of Pickering deems it appropriate to provide for such an interim levy on the assessment of property in this municipality. NOW THEREFORE, THE COUNCIL OF THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF PICKERING HEREBY ENACTS AS FOLLOWS: 1. The amounts levied shall be as follows: (a) For the residential, pipeline, farmland and managed forest property classes there shall be imposed and collected an interim levy of: If no percentage is prescribed, 50% of the total taxes for municipal and school purposes levied on in the year 2000. - (b) For the multi-residential, commercial and industrial property classes there shall be imposed and collected an interim levy of: If no percentage is prescribed, 50% of the total taxes for municipal and school purposes levied on in the year 2000. (c) For the payment-in-lieu property classes, there shall be imposed and collected an interim levy of: If no percentage is prescribed, 50% of the total taxes for municipal and where applicable for school purposes, on in the year 2000. 2. For the purposes of calculating the total amount of taxes for the year 2000 under paragraph one, if any taxes for municipal and school purposes were levied on a property for only part of 2000 because assessment was added to the collector's roll during 2000, an amount shall be added equal to the additional taxes that would have been levied on the property if taxes for municipal and school purposes has been levied for the entire year. 3. The provision of this By-Law apply in the event that assessment is added for the year 2001 to the collector's roll after the date this By-Law is passed and an interim levy shall be imposed and collected. 4. Taxes shall be payable to the Treasurer, City of Pickering. 5. When not in default, the payment of taxes, or any installment thereof, may also be made at any financial institution permitted by the Municipal Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. MA5, as amended, as designated by the Treasurer. 6. The Treasurer or Tax Collector may mail, or cause to be mailed, all notices of taxes required in accordance with the provisions of the Municipal Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. MA5, as amended, to the address of the residence or place of business of the person taxed pursuant to this By-Law. Notices will not be mailed to tenants.. It is the responsibility of the person taxed to notify and collect taxes from tenants or other persons. - 7. The Treasurer or the Tax Collector shall be and they are hereby authorized to accept part payment from time to time on account of any taxes due, and to give a receipt for such part payment provided that acceptance of any such part payment does not affect the collection of any percentage charge imposed or collectable under Section 399, Subsection (3) of the Municipal Act RS.O. 1990, in respect to non-payment of any taxes or any class of taxes or of any installment thereof. - 8. The Treasurer-Collector is hereby authorized to prepare and give one separate tax notice for the collection of 2001 taxes, one notice being an INTERIM notice, with two installments, as follows: INTERIM Tax Notice due date of the first installment March 12" 2001 due date of the second installment April 26, 2001; or either date adjusted by the Director, Corporate Services & Treasurer 9. Except in the case of taxes payable under Section 33 and 34 of the Assessment Act, RS.O. 1990, c.A31, as amended, the percentage charge (one and one-quarter percent) as a penalty for non-payment of taxes and monies payable as taxes shall be added to every tax or assessment, rent or rate of any installment or part thereof remaining unpaid on the first day of default and on the first day of each calendar month thereafter in which such default continues but not after December 31 of the year in which the taxes become payable, and it shall be the duty of a Tax Collector, immediately to collect at once, by distress or otherwise under the provisions of the applicable statutes all such taxes, assessments, rents, rates or installments or parts thereof as shall not have been paid on or before the several dates named as aforesaid, together with the said percentage charges as they are incurred. - 10. In respect of taxes payable under Sections 33 and 34 of the Assessment Act, RS.O. 1990, c.A.31, as amended, the percentage charge (one and one-quarter percent) imposed as a penalty for non-payment of taxes and monies payable as taxes shall be added to every amount of taxes so payable remaining unpaid on the first day after twenty-one days from the date of mailing by the Treasurer or a Tax Collector of a demand for payment thereof and on the first day of each calendar month thereafter in which default continues but not after December 31 of the year in which the taxes become payable; and it shall be the duty of a Tax Collector immediately after the expiration of the said twenty-one days to collect at once by distress or otherwise under the provisions of the applicable statutes, all such taxes as shall not have been paid on or before the expiration of the said twenty-one day period, together with the said percentage charges as they are incurred. 11. Nothing herein contained shall prevent the Treasurer or Tax Collector from proceeding at any time with the collection of any rate, tax or assessment, or any part thereof, in accordance with the provisions of the statutes and By-Laws governing the collection of taxes. 12. Where tenants of land owned by the Crown or in which the Crown has an interest are liable for the payment of taxes and where any such tenant has been employed either within or outside the municipality by the same employer for not less than thirty days, such employer shall pay over to the Treasurer or Tax Collector on demand out of any wages, salary or other remuneration due to such employee, the amount then payable for taxes under this By-Law and such payment shall relieve the employer from any liability to the employee for the amount so paid. 13. If any section or portion of this By-Law is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, it is the intent of Council for the Corporation of the City of Pickering that all remaining sections and portions ofthis By-Law continue in force and effect. - 14. That By-Law 5793/01 be repealed. 15. That this By-Law is to come into effect on the 1st day of January, 2001. .-... BY-LAW read a fIrst, second and third time and fInally passed this 19th day of February, 2001. Wayne Arthurs, Mayor Bruce Taylor, Clerk - -