7 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,M arch 4,2021 insidehalton.com Call us today! Book a FREE assessment, receive $10 credit towards Spring registration.* 905-339-3000 Small Class Sizes Warm Salt Water Pool Sessional Programming Technique Driven Program REGISTER NOW for Spring 2021 COVID SAFE & SANITIZED *(one per family, can not combined with other offers) www.theswimacademy.ca 407 Speers Road Unit 8 Oakville swim@theswimacademy.org The Town of Oakville is offering property owners facing financial hardship due to COVID-19 more time to pay their taxes. During meeting Feb. 22 meeting, council voted to pass the 2021 Property Tax Deferral Program for eligi- ble property owners. In a report to council, Danielle Tummon, the Town's manager of reve- nue and taxation, noted the application-based pro- gram will allow residential and business property owners who are experienc- ing financial difficulties due to COVID-19 to defer their property tax pay- ments in 2021. Those who participate can make their property tax payments at any point before Dec. 15, 2021 when the payments are due. Penalty and interest fees for the whole of the 2021 tax year will be waived for these eligible property owners. "The Town recognizes this has been a difficult time for many of our tax- payers and we are doing what we can to alleviate some of the financial pres- sures some families and business owners are fac- ing right now due to the pandemic," said Mayor Rob Burton. "We want to support our property owners by defer- ring taxes for those who need it most." To be eligible for the program, property owners will be required to com- plete an application and at- test to financial hardship as a result of COVID-19. This hardship could in- clude: prolonged suspen- sion of pay, loss of employ- ment, extreme business revenue loss, business clo- sure, insolvency, and/or bankruptcy. Additionally, town staff said, eligible property owners cannot have any tax arrears (property tax debt) prior to March 1, 2020, and must pay taxes directly to the Town of Oakville and not through a mortgage company. Tax payments for the Region of Halton and the school boards still need to be made based on their payment schedules. Tummon noted that by implementing the pro- gram, the town will miss out on revenue it typically receives from property tax penalty and interest fees. Town staff estimate the town lost approximately $2.9 million by waiving penalty and interest fees on outstanding property tax from May 1 to Dec. 31 in 2020. The report to council noted that while some mu- nicipalities, such as Mis- sissauga and Markham, have implemented similar tax deferral programs to help their residents, the majority of municipalities who waived property tax penalty and interest fees in 2020, are not recom- mending the same in 2021 due to cashflow issues and risk. Similarly, Tummon noted, the majority of sur- veyed municipalities are not in favour of extending property tax due dates due to the same issues. Online applications for this program will be avail- able later this week on the town's website at oakville- .ca. TOWN ROLLS OUT PROPERTY TAX DEFERRAL PROGRAM A property tax deferral program has been established by the Town of Oakville. Graham Paine/Metroland DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com NEWS 220 Randall Street, Downtown Oakville | 905-842-2100 ext. 109 www.watsoninvestments.com | To register please contact Adam at adam@watsoninvestments.com Register today for our Investing Principles Webinar Hosted by Presenters Thursday March, 18th at 5pm Presentation is 45 minutes. Watson Investments is hosting Apollo Lupescu, Vice President at Dimensional Fund Advisors to discuss key investment principles that investors should be aware of when investing. Apollo will also be answering questions that come in throughout the presentation. This presentation is for anyone who is currently invested in the market or anyone who is considering investing in the market. Jennifer Watson MBA, CFP®, CIM® Peter Watson MBA, CFP®, R.F.P., CIM®, FCSI Apollo Lupescu PHD, Economics & Finance