A new compassion clause has been added to the City's property tax bylaw. 

Under the new compassion clause, any penalties on current year taxes due to the death of a property owner during the month of June will be waived if the executor provides a valid death certificate to the city within sixty days of death. 

Shannon Shindler, Manager for the City's treasury says the idea was brought to their attention last year.

"There was an appeal made to the council at the end of last year in regard to waving penalties due to the death of a property owner,  when that appeal came forward council requested the administration looked at what other municipalities were doing and what were some items the city could put in place to handle situations like this" 

Shindler says it gives the City more power in this kind of matter. 

"In essence what this bylaw does is give the administration the authority to waive the penalties if the compassion clause is met within the bylaw. Previously the executor would have to make an appeal to the council and it would make it a much larger process to go through".

The decision from the council was a unanimous vote.

For more information on the incident that brought this idea forward click here

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