Utility Billings
Bills for water, sewer and garbage will be mailed out early in January. The discount period has been extended for 2012, so payments made by February 29th 2012 will be eligible for a 10% discount. For most homes, the cost will be $680.50 ($612.45 after discount). This is an increase of slightly less than 3.5% overall. In fact the charge for both water and sewer has not changed but we have had to raise the rate for garbage collection from $168.00 per household to $190.50 to cover additional costs imposed by the RDCK.
Property Tax Information
2012 Property Taxes will be due on or before July 3, 2012.
Late Payment Penalties
To avoid a Late Payment Penalty, taxes must be received at the Village Office on or before this date. Please note that the Village Office has relocated to 423 Davies Avenue and we have installed a mail slot where payments may be dropped off.
Payments and Home Owner Grant applications received after the due date will incur a 10% penalty.
Important Information about the Homeowner Grant
If you are eligible for the Provincial Home Owner Grant, please ensure that the Application on the bottom of your tax notice is completed, signed and returned to the Village Office by the close of business on July 3, 2012 to avoid a penalty of 10% on the grant portion. Please note that the Home Owner Grant application form must be completed each and every year in which you are eligible for the grant.
A penalty will be applied on the amount of the Home Owner Grant for any unclaimed, unsigned or incomplete applications, as this will be considered equivalent to unpaid taxes. To avoid the penalty on the Grant portion of your taxes, the Home Owner Grant must be claimed even if a payment on outstanding taxes is not made.
Collection of Taxes for Other Taxing Authorities
The Village is required to include on property tax statements amounts levied by other taxing authorities over whom the Village has no control. The Village’s percentage of your total tax payable was only 36.58 % in 2010. School taxes collected on behalf of the Provincial government by the Village account for 34.08% of the tax bill. The remainder of the charges were levied by Regional District of Central Kootenay, Police Levy, Central Kootenay Regional Hospital District, West Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital, the B.C. Assessment Authority (BC Assessment) and the Municipal Finance Authority (MFA-BC).
For information and inquiries regarding amounts levied by other taxing authorities, please contact them directly at:
· School Taxes (250) 356-0907 (Victoria)
· Regional District of Central Kootenay (250) 352-6665
· B.C. Assessment Authority 604-241-1361
· Municipal Finance Authority (250) 383-1181 (Victoria)