CBS hoping to do better on overdue taxes

By Craig Westcott

There’s less singing out about it by council this year compared to previous years, but figures from the finance department show the Town of Conception Bay South is owed a substantial amount in unpaid taxes.
The figures were contained in a background report prepared for council prior to its June meeting. The numbers show more than $4.4 million is owed in unpaid taxes. Of that, some $1.2 million, or about 30 per cent, has been owing since 2020 or earlier. Some 165 property owners are delinquent on that share of the unpaid tax.
The amount outstanding for the last full calendar year, 2024, is just over $1.6 million. That’s about 38 per cent of the total unpaid balance and is owed by some 1,467 late paying property owners.
Council approved what it called a Tax Recovery Plan at the June public meeting without any comment other than Deputy Mayor Andrea Gosse noting the plan is a requirement of the provincial Department of Municipal Affairs.
The Town is categorizing some $1.02 million as likely being uncollectable.
The document notes the Town was able to collect only 35 per cent of the outstanding taxes owed up to the end of 2024 during its tax recovery efforts. The goal was a collection rate of 65 per cent.
The plan says CBS needs to look at changing its collection procedures under the new Towns and Local Service Districts Act. Another factor singled out is staffing. The plan said the tax collection position was vacant for a significant portion of 2023 “and retention for this position has continued to be challenging.” This year, council is setting a goal of collecting 50 per cent of all the outstanding arrears by December 31.
The Town is required by the Province to come up with a tax recovery plan with timelines and procedures for collecting unpaid taxes in order to qualify for future Municipal Operating Grants and Gas Tax revenue.
“The Town will take all reasonable actions towards the recovery of taxes in arrears while ensuring the tax recovery process being followed is fair and reasonable to the tax payer and the Town,” the plan states.
The document also points out tax notices are supposed to be mailed out by the end of January every year with the taxes to be paid by June 30. Unpaid taxes are considered to be in arrears as of July 1.