by Jeff Burgar

In the minds of four High Prairie town councillors, they were doing the right thing when they voted to refund a taxpayer a penalty. Town council, as policy states, charged the taxpayer when she didn’t pay her taxes on time.

To recap the story, the taxpayer said she popped her tax payment in the mail. It arrived late, after the June 30 deadline, at the town office.

The rules are clear: Get a date stamp. Send the money registered mail. Send it by courier and have a receipt with a clear date stamp. Drop the money off in person, or have an agent drop it off and get a receipt.

Date stamps made by office postal machines are not acceptable. If there is any doubt your taxes might not arrive by the June 30 deadline by mail, follow an alternate method above or get a confirmation you actually did send the money, as in registered mail.

If you choose to use regular mail, you can always allow extra time, and then phone the town office to make sure they have it.

Our taxpayer did choose to use regular mail. She says she mailed her money, from out of town, 10 days before the deadline. There was no date stamp from Canada Post, or it was unreadable. Nothing unusual there either way. The tax payment arrived after June 30th. The town slapped a penalty of $266.03, as is policy for everybody.

The taxpayer appealed the penalty. Councillors argued for and against giving back the penalty. In the end, four councillors: Brian Gilroy, Brian Panasiuk, Arlen Quartly, and Debbie Rose voted to give the penalty back. Mayor Linda Cox and councillor Donna Deynaka voted no. Councillor Michael Long was absent.

Over the years, and in many different municipalities, pretty well this same situation happens – people paying their taxes late, and then asking the penalty be forgiven. One example in High Prairie happened when a bank clerk, collecting monthly combined mortgage and tax payments for a whole year, forgot to send in the tax. She said she would lose her job if the penalty wasn’t forgiven. Town council at the time said, “No!”

There were many, many reasons. Forgiving penalties would open too many cans of worms. Where do you draw the line at hardship? Where do you cease being a custodian of the public purse, and become a sucker for any hard luck story that comes along? Do you draw a line over big amounts and small amounts? How do you separate councillors voting out of sympathy, and councillors who might have alterior motives of some kind, helping a friend or some such?

The record isn’t entirely clear if these questions were asked a few weeks ago. But there was one astounding observation made by one councillor. The person appealing the penalty was “obviously sincere she wanted to pay taxes. She wrote her appeal in long hand.”

Those appealing in the future, besides knowing some councillors are big-hearted when their own money isn’t on the line, should keep this in mind.