COVID-19 Impacts Taxes and Public Meetings

Cumberland council is in the budget process but the state of health emergency is having a dramatic financial impact and expectations must be greatly relaxed.

The county decided earlier that no interest would be charged in March on overdue tax bills. However, no action has been decided yet on April or beyond.

The Director of Finance told council last night that nearly 95 percent of current taxes have already been paid. Andrew MacDonald says, “We continue to make strides in the right direction, but obviously we’ll have to postpone our tax collection process.”

MacDonald says, “We have been working on some assumptions if we defer due dates for taxes or if we reduce the interest rates and we’re trying to come up with some options for council to look at.”

Council is currently meeting by teleconference over the phone. While there is no capacity for public access, the media is invited to attend with full access to provide public reports. Efforts are underway to find appropriate solutions for public input, especially with planned public hearings regarding proposed zoning and by-law changes.

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