Picture Butte council approves COVID-19 property tax, utility relief measures

By Nikki Jamieson
Sunny South News

Picture Butte town council took several measures aimed to help residents during the COVID-19 crisis at their April 14 regular council meeting.

One measure approved concerned taxes. Usually, if taxes are not paid by their due date, the Town of Picture Butte applies a 18 per cent penalty to the outstanding amount for the current years taxes, although anyone registered on the Tax Installment Payment Plan (TIPP) is exempt from this penalty. In light of the economic situation resulting from the COVID-19 crisis, council reduced the 18 per cent penalty to one percent, which will be added as per usual after the due date.

Residents will also see a break on outstanding utility bills. Normally, the town applies a two per cent penalty to any outstanding amounts owing on utility bills. Council has directed Administration to eliminate the two per cent penalty on any outstanding amounts incurred from April 1-July 31.

Picture Butte town council decided not to increase municipal taxes for the year 2020, which means there will be no increases to the residential and non-residential municipal tax rate

However, due to the increase in Tipping fees at the Lethbridge Regional Landfill, council directed administration to raise the garbage rates for residential, commercial and institutional accounts by five per cent beginning June 1.

Due to the pandemic and social distancing measures, the planned opening date for the Cor Van Raay and Community Aquatic Centre has been pushed back from May 31 to July 1. The opening date for the pool is dependent on the social distancing measures that have been put in place by the provincial government.

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