TAX ENFORCEMENT
Per Section 283, of The Municipalities Act, the Town of Birch Hills is required to levy and collect property taxes each year to finance the programs and services delivered to out residents. Per Section 287, of The Municipalities Act, the Town of Birch Hills is also required to collect taxes imposed by other taxing authorities such as the education property tax. Should any rate payer’s property taxes be unpaid after December 31 of the year they were levied, the property taxes are considered in arrears. The Tax Enforcement Act and The Tax Enforcement Regulations sets out the authority and requirements that must be followed to enforce the collection of property taxes that become in arrears. Please see The Tax Enforcement Procedural Manual for a step-by-step guide to the tax enforcement process.
To better understand the municipal tax enforcement process, check out the Municipal Property Tax Enforcement – A Citizen’s Guide provided by the Government of Saskatchewan. Please note that the municipality is not required to send reminder notices that your taxes are in arrears. It is your responsibility to ensure your taxes are up to date.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TAX ARREARS
What does Arrears mean? “Arrears of taxes” means taxes unpaid and outstanding after the expiry of the year in which they were imposed and includes penalties for default in payment. If I am in Arrears, does that automatically mean you will take title to my property? No, however, if the taxes remain unpaid after a full year, a municipality start the application of applying for title of your property through the tax enforcement process. This process is laid out in legislation and followed for the protection of the rate payer and the municipality.
Step 1: If all or part of the taxes on a property remain unpaid after December 31 st of the year they were charged, the property can be dealt with under the Tax Enforcement Act. A list of properties with unpaid taxes, which includes a note showing how much advertising costs was added to each roll is created and submitted to council by November 15 th each year. This said list must then be published in one issue of a newspaper printed in the municipality. If there is no local newspaper, it then must be published in a provincial newspaper chosen by council.
Step 2: Tax lien registration – if the unpaid taxes and advertising costs are not paid within sixty (60) days from the date of the advertisement and not later than the thirty-first (31) of January
next following, a tax lien will be registered on the property with the Land Titles Registry.
Step 3: If the taxes are still unpaid and the lien hasn’t been removed, any time after six months have passed since the municipality registered a tax lien on a property in the Land Titles Registry,
the municipality may pass a resolution to begin the process of requesting title to that property.
Step 4: The thirty (30) day notice – also known as the final notice, may be issued after The Provincial Mediation Board (PMB) authorizes your municipality to complete the tax
enforcement process, which is permission to take title. Your municipality will send you a notice saying it plans to apply for ownership of your property
in 30 days if your property taxes are not paid. If you don’t pay the overdue taxes and enforcement costs within those 30 days, the municipality can move forward with applying for
title to your property.
Step 5: Your municipality can apply for title to your property if you have not fully paid the arrears and all tax enforcement costs by the deadline in the last notice sent to you.
Step 6: When title is transferred to your municipality for tax enforcement purposes, your municipality must offer it for sale within one year from the date of obtaining title. The Tax
Enforcement Act also enables a municipality to retain the property for municipal purposes.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
This information is not intended to serve as an official interpretation of current regulations. For accurate and up-to-date details, please visit the Government of Saskatchewan website at
https://www.saskatchewan.ca