Need a receipt? It will cost you, as Newmarket brings in new fees for tax services

Newmarkettoday.ca
Nov. 17, 2021

Newmarket is implementing new tax-related fees in 2022 aimed at addressing issues taking up staff time.

Council committee of the whole approved several new fees Nov. 15, expected to help bring in an extra $50,000 in the first year. These include $15 for a tax receipt print, $40 for tax appeal applications, $25 for tax bill reprints, among others.

“The new fees proposed are relatively common practices with other municipalities,” a staff report said. “Staff will monitor the budgetary impact of the new fees on an annual basis.”

The new fees come after the town reviewed neighbouring municipalities. Staff said the fees are still below average compared to Toronto, Barrie, Mississauga, and York Region neighbours.

The full list of fee adjustments includes:

$25 for tax bill reprints, asked for approximately 400 times per year.
$15 for recalling a property tax payment through a financial institution
$5 for staff transferring unpaid utility bills more than 90 days old to property tax bills
$50 administrative fee onto a tax account when a title search is pulled due to a tax sale
$100 for rush tax charge certificates. The $82 fee for a certificate with at least one businesses day notice is unaffected
$30 to retrieve a post-dated cheque
$40 for tax appeal applications
$15 fee for tax receipts, sometimes asked for by the Canada Revenue Agency, requested approximately 1,000 times per year.
Mayor John Taylor said the fees are mostly based on user requests or error, but questioned the tax receipt fee as something not necessarily directly caused by residents.

Property tax supervisor Lawrence Villanueva said it comes up for specific individuals CRA selects for tax audits. He said other York municipalities like Markham and Vaughan charge for receipts.

The town is also increasing the fee for new ownership maintenance for a tax account from $20 to $30, compared to an average of $38.50 for surrounding municipalities. The fee for a new account/roll number is increasing from $30 to $40, compared to a $54.75 average.

Other fees are also rising by 1.5 per cent, based on inflation.

The changes will still need to be finalized at a council meeting later this month. The changes would become effective Jan. 1.