Image credit: Mel Rothenburger

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Paying property taxes and getting Homeowner grant should be easier

Jul 4, 2023 | 4:59 AM

THIS IS TAX DAY. Not the taxes we pay to the federal and provincial governments, but what we hand over to our municipalities and regional districts to pay for recreation facilities, water and sewer systems, hospitals, mosquito control and a whole lot of other services that make life better.

If we don’t pay by the end of today, or qualify for deferral, a penalty awaits. Fair enough, but I have a few complaints. As you made arrangements to pay what’s owed, you might have noticed certain things, as I did.

For example, that property taxes are now almost three times what they were a dozen years ago, but that the Homeowner grant hasn’t increased a dime.

Not only that, it’s harder to get now because we have to apply for it separately to the provincial government. The rationale for that has yet to be explained. We shouldn’t have to apply for it at all — it’s a tax exemption.

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It’s not getting any easier to pay our taxes, either, at least not online. People who write instructions for how to pay taxes online should have to try doing it themselves. It sounds simple, but it’s not.

If paying rural property taxes, we aren’t allowed to use a credit card or Interac like the rest of the world does things.

I decided to try the eTaxBC online method, despite the fact it gave me much grief last year. This involves quite the rigmarole in which you first have to get an access code, punch in a bunch of numbers and then try to figure out a website that doesn’t do what the instructions say it should do.

City dwellers are fortunate that they can pay in person at City Hall or one of the other payment locations the City established.

As for me, I’m going back to doing it the good old-fashioned way — at the bank, where I can get it done in five minutes.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.