The City of Campbell River says most property owners in town paid their property taxes by the July 2nd due date.
It says nearly one-quarter of those who’ve already paid did so in person at city hall, with two per cent using the city’s new drive-through service.
“The finance department at city hall was very busy collecting property taxes over the last few weeks of June,” says financial planning officer Dennis Brodie. “While nearly 40 per cent of people paid online, 24 per cent of people came to city hall to pay in person.”
Brodie says COVID-19 made property tax collection challenging.
He’s now thanking taxpayers for their patience and for following the new safety directions set forth.
“We have new hand and surface cleaning requirements, and, with physical distancing requirements, the process was slower because we could only have two people, rather than four, working at the front counter,” Brodie says.
“People were very understanding. To avoid standing in line, almost 300 people took advantage of the six days of drive-through service, including a few people on bicycles. The new drive-through service got good reviews. Most people who used it suggested we should offer it every year at tax time.”
By July 2nd, the city says:
- One per cent of property tax payments were by were credit card, another new option this year
- 900 property owners paid using pre-authorized withdrawals – a four per cent increase over 2019
- Approximately five per cent of property tax payments were deferred this year – similar to past years
- 77.5 per cent paid in full
- 81 per cent of overall tax dollars collected
Although property tax payments were due July 2nd, as a community relief measure council decided that there will be no penalties applied to late payments until October 1st.
“For everyone’s safety, we continue to ask people to pay online if possible,” Brodie adds.
Those who register for a MyCity account can review current and past property tax information through this secure service on the city’s website.
If you’re a property owner and have not yet received a tax notice in the mail, get in touch with the city’s finance department by emailing [email protected] or by calling (250) 286-5715.
