The Northern Rockies Regional Municipality is bringing its tax collection rules into the 21st century by modernizing a decades-old policy on uncollectible property taxes to align with modern provincial law.
During Monday’s council meeting, council voted to formally repeal and replace a 1998 policy originally titled “Waiving of Property Taxes and Penalties,” rebranding it as “Write-Off of Uncollectible Property Taxes” alongside updated guidelines.
Toni Pike, director of finance for the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, brought forward the changes as part of the local government’s broader effort to modernize outdated municipal policies.
“In our efforts to update our policies that we currently have, we recognized that we have a policy from 1998 speaking to the waiving of property taxes,” Pike told council.
“That was developed before the Community Charter and the Local Government Act brought in legislation that governs how we collect property taxes.”
The updated framework establishes modern, legally compliant administrative rules for identifying and writing off uncollectable property taxes when recovery is no longer possible under British Columbia statutory standards.
Council members welcomed the policy change, specifically commending staff for presenting the revisions in a clear, side-by-side comparison format.
“I just want to express my appreciation for the way the report is presented,” said Deputy Mayor Leslie Gerwing.
“On the one hand, we have the old policy, and on the other side… we have the new policy, so it prevents all of the former work we had in trying to find the old policy and going back and forth and matching all those sentences.”
Gerwing noted the added efficiency for council discussions, adding, “I know it takes staff time to develop these reports, but I find them extremely helpful, so I just wanted to again mention my appreciation for the work that staff does to make this easier for us.”
Mayor Rob Fraser also expressed support for the revisions, saying, “I think the report is good, I think I’m fine with the wording of the policy and the name change.”
Council voted unanimously in favour of Deputy Mayor Gerwing’s recommendation to adopt the updated policy and title as presented.
