Halifax Offering One-Month Deferral On Property Tax Payments
HALIFAX – Property owners in Halifax struggling financially because of Covid-19 are receiving a small break from the city this tax season. Rather than paying tax at the end of April, residents and businesses can now pay as late as June 1.
The Halifax Regional Municipality, however, is asking people who can afford to pay not to delay their payments. Taxes make up a whopping 82 percent of the city’s revenues. And since the city isn’t making much money on service fees, like parking and transit, property tax is vital to keep the city running.
“While the municipality is financially sound, a significant amount of cash flow is required to provide services, pay vendors and suppliers and continue with capital projects that support the economy,” a HRM spokesperson wrote in an email. “The municipality has strong reserves and will be looking at all expenditures as part of the recasting of the budget to respond to COVID-19. Our asset base remains strong.”
The spokesperson also indicated Halifax will not respond with austerity during these challenging times. With the construction season on the horizon, the city plans to keep the economy active by continuing capital works projects.
“We are continuing to advance capital work. It is importation to keep the economy working,” said the HRM spokesperson. “We evaluate the projects to make sure the suppliers can deliver to our specifications and so far, we have been very successful with moving forward with tender awards and capital projects.”
Compared to stimulus programs announced by the province and the feds, a one-month tax deferral does not seem like a big deal. But Paul MacKinnon, CEO of the Downtown Halifax Business Association, understands that municipalities are very limited to what they can offer financially.
“The reality is the city doesn’t have a ton of money and very few financial tools and has a lot of restrictions. So, I don’t think we were expecting the city to roll out some sort of big grant program or rent program,” said MacKinnon.
“Of the three orders of government the cities have the least amount of financial flexibility and, also, they can’t go in debt.”
As a business leader in the city, MacKinnon has been keeping a close eye on the economic programs rolled out by all three levels of government. The city may not have the cash to roll out huge stimulus packages, but the CEO believes the city could be used to deliver programs on behalf of the provincial and federal governments.
“I think the city is in a great position to deliver some of the other programs that the province and the feds are offering because (the municipality) is the closest to the business community.”