After paying her property taxes online in advance of the July 2 deadline, Sechelt resident Bernadette Richards thought she was done for another year.
A surprise arrived in her mail in late July. A bill from the municipality for $52.25 for interest on unpaid 2021 taxes.
Richards admits she missed information about a new procedure to claim the provincial Homeowners Grant (HOG) and was not aware that a second step of applying for that grant directly from the province had been added in 2021.
Believing the grant would be applied as in previous years, Richards paid her taxes less the grant amount – resulting in the bill for a five per cent late payment penalty on the outstanding amount.
“It’s not the amount, it’s the sneaky way that they hit us up with it this year,” said Richards.
Sechelt did not keep track of how many taxpayers were charged penalties for late HOG claims in 2021, according to communications manager Julie Rogers.Sechelt did apply more penalties for late property tax payments this year than in 2020, she said, but added that a variety of situations can result in taxpayers not making a full payment by the due date.
The Town of Gibsons stated in an email that HOG claims by the tax payment due date this year were “on par” with the levels claimed in previous years. It also reported receiving “very few” complaints about the change to the HOG process.
Richards said that she reached out via Facebook and that a handful of individuals posted that they had similar experience with their HOG this year. “It’s a provincial issue… I believe there are a lot of people that have been caught on this,” she said.
In previous years, HOG applications were included as a step within local governments’ online or in-person tax payment process.In an email, Sonia Lowe, spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance, said the province took over HOG program processing in 2021 “to remove an administrative burden from our local government partners and to centralize the program… Centralization has several benefits such as fast, easy online application access, phone service, and quicker application processing.”
References to the change were included on Sechelt, Gibsons and the ministry’s websites in advance of this year’s property tax payment season. In addition, Rogers said the district did print advertisements as well as a range of social media communications about the new requirement.
A Sechelt property owner since 2003, Richards told Coast Reporter that she feels Sechelt did not do enough to make taxpayers aware, especially in a year when concerns related to COVID affected people’s ability to go to municipal offices to deal with their taxes in person.
“That detail should have been made more prominent” on property tax documents, Richards said. She said that use of a coloured text box or other highlight around the explanation of the change would have drawn her attention.
“When you get your tax notice you are looking at a lot of information... You are looking at the bottom line and being gobsmacked that it has gone up again this year.”
Richards has applied for her 2021 HOG and paid the penalty. When asked what she has taken away from the experience, she said: “I’ve already marked it on my calendar for next year to ensure that I do step two.”
Owners of properties in Gibsons and Sechelt who owe outstanding 2021 property taxes are reminded a second five per cent penalty on unpaid balances will be charged at the end of August.
“Local governments are required by the province to charge penalties for late tax payments,” said Rogers.
