Kenny wants to accommodate fixed income residents by changing tax due dates
Coun. John Kenny wants to make it easier for people on fixed incomes to pay their taxes.
“Everybody on a fixed income gets their cheques the first of the month,” he told ThoroldNews, following his bid to the city’s financial director to change municipal tax due dates at Tuesday’s council meeting.
“We have people who have to decide what they’re going to pay” in terms of outstanding bills.
Currently, interim tax bills are scheduled to be issued with due dates of Feb. 28 and April 30, Maria Mauro informed Kenny at the council meeting.
“We have a lot of people in Thorold on fixed incomes,” he stated, “and I was hoping to change payment from the last day of the month in those two months and others in the year to the first day of the (next) month.”
Mauro told Kenny that may not be possible.
“We do have some obligations to pay to the Region and School Board on the understanding it comes out at the end of the month. If you could leave it for this round and staff could come up with a report about the pros and cons of moving it,” in the future, she suggested. “The interim tax bills will go out with the dates indicated on the report.”
Final tax bills—which have projected due dates of June 30 and Aug. 31—could possibly be amended, Mauro added.
Upcoming events
Mayor Terry Ugulini noted that the annual Henderson’s Hockey tournament will take place at the Thorold Arenas from Jan. 25 to 27. This year, the TAAA will host 42 teams from other communities.
The Canal Bank Shuffle’s annual Guitar Wars concert will be held at Holy Rosary Hall on Feb. 1, when the Knights of Columbus will also be selling their beef on a bun, the mayor added. Five guitar virtuosos will be featured, with doors opening at 6 p.m. for the 7 p.m. show. Tickets cost $20 in advance, $25 at the door, and are available here.
Mel Swart Lake Gibson Park needs city funding
Coun. Fred Neale, who’s been a member of the Mel Swart Lake Gibson Park committee since its founding in 1995, said the committee’s members have “done a great job of improving it” since that time. “We have spent almost a quarter of a million dollars and we feel now that the city should take over upgrading the park.”
All enhancements in the park to date have been paid for through donations, Neale told ThoroldNews.
“We built the boardwalk and put in lots of trees and now, we need capital for extending pathways and planting more trees.”
The park, which borders the village of Beaverdams, is a “special park,” Neale added. “It’s a natural park and every time I go out there, the parking lot is full and people in the neighbourhood are always walking out there.”
At council Tuesday, he said the committee is “suggesting that $6,000 be put in the budget, but would like staff to prepare a report first, based on the committee minutes.”
Do something about graffiti
Graffiti is spreading in Thorold, cautioned Coun. Jim Handley.
“If you look at other councils, they address this so it doesn’t carry on. Leaving it will encourage it to continue. If it’s on private property, they are responsible to clean it up themselves."
Various bouts of vandalism have resulted in graffiti-covered businesses as well as defacement of the city’s murals on buildings along the Welland Canal.
According to Handley, “We have allowed that building to deteriorate” due to its $1 million tax lien on the property,” he added, “but we need a staff report to address it.”
Asked by Coun. Neale if the city has a policy that makes it mandatory for the owners to clean it up, “We do not have a mechanism to address that,” staff replied.
“We’ve had it downtown since the last person (graffiti artist) got arrested” some time ago, stated Neale.
A motion was made for a report to come forward from the city’s chief building official to address the issue.
Waste management in-house
Coun. Handley thinks Thorold should take waste matters into its own hands.
“I talked to our director of public works and community services,” he told council, “so at the Feb. 5 (council) meeting, we can discuss it further. The Niagara Region waste management contract is up for renewal in 2021. Several municipalities have brought improved levels of service and reduced costs by bringing it in-house. They have staffing issues and health and safety issues” at the Region, he added. “Even if we could do some comparisons and do it partially in-house, if not wholly.”
Coun. Ken Sentance mentioned that the recent BIA meeting hosted Regional staff to explain the proposed changes of the upcoming contract.
“They assured us this is a 10-year-old contract, and the prices will go up,” he told councillors.
