The Municipality of Chatham-Kent now has more information for those wishing to defer their property tax payments.
Amy McLellan, manager of revenue, said property owners must contact the municipality to stop automatic withdrawals or to have their post-dated cheques withheld from deposit.
“Taxpayers need to let us know at least five business days before the scheduled withdrawal,” she said. “Otherwise payments will continue to be processed.”
Taxes for about 14,000 properties are paid through automatic payments.
McLellan said property owners who use pre-authorized payment plans or post-dated cheques to pay their tax installments and want to temporarily stop those payments without penalty can find instructions at https://www.chatham-kent.ca/residents/taxes/covid-19-property-tax-faq.
On April 6, Chatham-Kent council unanimously voted to delay the due date for the next installment of municipal property taxes from May 1 to July 10 and waive late payment charges on current year tax arrears from April 1 to July 10, 2020 to allow people to recover from the COVID-19 crisis.
McLellan also said taxpayers can request to be removed from pre-authorized payment plans by calling the tax department at 519-360-1998 or by completing the Preauthorized Payment Change or Cancellation Form and emailing CKAR@Chatham-Kent.ca.
Residents with loan agreements and CIP agreements must also contact the municipality to stop the automatic payment process. The changes, McLellan said, do not include Provincial Offences Act charges, legal charges or building permit fees.
The Chatham-Kent PUC has not charged interest for any customers who have 2020 arrears and will continue not charging interest for residential customers until June 17. All other customers will be charged interest for any overdue amount as of April 1. The PUC has also agreed not to disconnect residential and small general service customers who don't pay their bills until after July 31.
Also, Entegrus will not be disconnecting electricity for residential and low volume small business customers until after July 31 and has temporarily waived charging interest for residential customers.
Mayor Darrin Canniff reminds the public it is not a tax break and encourages people to pay their taxes if they can because they pay for much-needed community services.
