On Jan. 1, the City of Airdrie will apply a nine per cent penalty to all 2012 taxes that have not yet been paid.
The fee will apply to unpaid property taxes that were due on June 30. Assessments were sent out in May.
According to Suzette DeMott, Airdrie’s manager of assessments, taxation and utilities, if applied, the fee will be the third the City of Airdrie will charge for the overdue taxes.
“If they didn’t pay them last year (2012), they would have had a five per cent fee (in July) and another nine per cent penalty on Aug. 1,” she said.
If the taxes remain unpaid, another nine per cent penalty will be applied on April 1, she added.
If taxes remain unpaid after three years, the City has the option of auctioning off the property to collect the money. Last year, 49 properties were in jeopardy of being auctioned off.
However, by the November auction deadline, all the arrears had been paid.
The City of Airdrie sends out quarterly reminders about overdue taxes, said DeMott. DeMott suggests signing up for the City’s monthly payment plan.
About 52 per cent of Airdronians are signed up for the plan, which is an automatic withdrawal. Another 13 to 14 per cent pay their taxes monthly along with their mortgage payments.
DeMott said City staff works to promote the payment plan.
“There is no administrative fee, people then don’t get into the position where they are having penalties applied,” said DeMott.
“Instead of having that one, big yearly payment… if you spread it over the year, it’s much more manageable.”
DeMott said the program is easy to sign up for by calling the City’s taxation department at 403-948-8856 or online at www.airdrie.ca
DeMott said taxes cover about 42 per cent of the City’s operational budget and help pay for a number of services, such as police, fire, parks, roads and transportation.
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