Vauxhall council declines tax penalty reversals

By Cole Parkinson
Vauxhall Advance
cparkinson@tabertimes.com

Vauxhall town council received a few requests for tax penalty reversals from Vauxhall residents who had their taxes accepted past the due date.

Councillors had the chance to review the several different requests during their regular meeting on August 21.

In one instance, the resident said they submitted the taxes on June 29 but due to the long weekend, the bank did not accept them until after the due date.

“They were talking about some banking issues. Everyone knows that if you are depositing or transferring money, it takes a few days before it goes through. I’m wondering if we did approve the reversal, if we could not say for next year, this date is the due date,” said Mayor Margaret Plumtree.

Councillors had questions on when the notices went out and town administration said the notices went out in mid to late May.

With the thought that everyone had ample time to complete their taxes, councillors were confused why people were waiting until the last available day to submit.

“There is nothing on there saying you are prohibited from paying before the final due date. My point being, if you wait until the very last day and ‘oh jee, Canada Post was late’ or ‘it took two days’, they could have paid the day they got the notice, so I have no sympathy for anybody who tried to submit on the very last day. Pay early if you want to be safe,” said Deputy Mayor Richard Phillips. “You don’t have to wait until the due date to pay.”

While some on council were more sympathetic for some of the requested reversals, they realized what that would implicate moving forward.

“I’m fine either way but if we do a reversal, it’s not happening every year,” stated Plumtree.
With the due date clearly on the notices sent out by the town, councillors weren’t all that in favour of opening the door to tax penalty reversals every year.

While some councillors stated they were sympathetic to some of the requests, namely the one filed before the due date, no councillor made a motion to award any reversals.

“There will be someone saying the same thing next year. You know when it is due,” added Phillips.

Ultimately, council did not grant any tax penalty reversals.

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