City of Toronto

REPORT No. 4

OF THE CORPORATE SERVICES COMMITTEE

(from its meeting on March 30, 1998,

submitted by Councillor Dick O'Brien, Chair)

As Considered by

The Council of the City of Toronto

at its Special Meeting

on April 29 and 30, 1998

1

Property Tax Bill Design and Content

(City Council at its Special Meeting on April 29 and 30, 1998, amended this Clause by adding thereto the following:

"It is further recommended that the report dated April 15, 1998, from the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, embodying the following recommendations, be adopted:

'It is recommended that:

(1) the design of the tax bill, and particularly the identification of the "New Mike Harris Property Tax", be deferred to the special meeting of Council beginning April 29, 1998, regarding the 1998 Operating and Capital Budgets;

(2) the attached list (Appendix I) of what the Province intends to prohibit municipalities from placing on their tax bill be received as information;

(3) the education portion of the tax bill be clearly identified as "Provincial"; and

(4) the colour of the final tax bill and brochure be green, with the mailing envelope being beige as presented.' ")

(City Council on April 16, 1998, deferred consideration of this Clause to the Special Meeting of Council to be held on Wednesday, April 29, 1998, such Clause to be considered with the 1998 Operating Budget.)

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(Clause No. 26 of Report No. 3 of the Corporate Services Committee.)

The Corporate Services Committee recommends the adoption of the report (March 14, 1998) from the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer:

The Corporate Services Committee reports, for the information of Council, having requested the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer:

(1) to submit a report directly to Council, for its meeting scheduled to be held on April 16, 1998:

(a) providing a list of what the Province intends to prohibit municipalities, by regulation, from informing the taxpayers about on the Property Tax Bill;

(b) identifying on the Property Tax Bill the portion for education as determined by the Province; and

(c) providing coloured mock-ups of the new Property Tax Bill, brochure and envelopes; and

(2) in consultation with the Access and Equity Centre, to review the proposed Realty Tax Bill for plain language and accessibility purposes.

The Corporate Services Committee submits the following report (March 14, 1998) from the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer:

Purpose:

This report outlines the design of the new property tax bill which will be sent to all taxpayers in early June of this year. It will also address the regulatory requirements outlining what shall or shall not appear on a tax bill in accordance with Bill 164.

Source of Funds/Financial Implications:

Funding for the design, printing and mailing of the tax bills have been budgeted for in the Operating Budget. The financial implications in any delays in the approval of the final bill design are substantial considering the City will bill more than $2.5 billion on the final tax bill.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

(1) Council approve the attached tax bill design and content. Please note that the attached tax bill has been reduced to approximately 7" X 14" and the actual bill will be 7" X 17"; and

(2) any message or communication that Council deems necessary be included in a separate brochure and/or mailing envelope.

Background:

With the amalgamation of the former municipalities, the implementation of a new property tax software system, a new assessment system and Bill 164, a new tax bill has been designed. The new tax bill takes into consideration the new legislated requirements including those set out in Bill 164. The Bill (Tax Credits to Create Jobs Act) received Royal Accent on December 18, 1997, with the section pertaining to the information permitted on property tax bills effective January 1, 1998.

The Act authorizes the Minister to prescribe what mandatory information is required to appear on a tax bill. It goes on to state that, where the Minister has approved the form of the notice (i.e., tax bill), a municipality shall not include other information on a tax bill unless expressly authorized to do so by the Minister. Information which is included with the accompanying tax bill, such as a brochure, is not subject to the legislation and Council may state what it wishes. As part of the regular final tax bill mailing, there is usually an accompanying brochure which incorporates communication from Council it deems necessary to all its taxpayers.

Council at it's meeting held on February 12, 1998, passed a motion that the final tax bill include a separate line item entitled "New Mike Harris Property Tax". If the Minister was to exercise his power to the fullest, then this would likely not be permitted on the actual tax bill, but it can be placed on the accompanying brochure previously mentioned, if Council so wishes. To date, no regulations have been filed by the Minister and Ministry staff advise that regulations in this respect are not expected at this time. The risk of placing it on the tax bill, in possible contravention of the regulations, is that the tax bill may not be legally considered a tax bill and therefore our statutory lien may not be valid.

When the regulations are passed, they may be retroactive to January 1st, which may put the Treasurer in a legal dilemma because of her statutory duties as Tax Collector. Under the Municipal Act, the Tax Collector is required to levy and collect taxes as set out in the legislation. The Tax Collector also collects for the school boards and they are required, under legislation, to be paid a specific amount by a specific date. If the Treasurer/Tax Collector can not fulfill her duties in the collection of taxes, the issue of liability needs to be addressed.

We have spoken to the City Solicitor on the issue of not conforming to Bill 164 and they concur with the legal ramifications identified above regarding the legal status of the tax bill.

An early resolution by Council on the design and content of the tax bill is important so that the final tax bills can be mailed in early June. There is a significant amount of lead time required for computer programming, printing preparation, and other related steps in the bill production and mailing. Any delays will result in reduced cash flow in June and an associated loss in investment income.

Conclusions:

It is our intention to mail out the tax bills in early June in order to meet our financial commitments. It is necessary to finalize the bill design and content now, to enable the work to be completed to meet this objective. Any delay in the design or its conformity to the existing legislation will have serious consequences on our cash flow. The liability issue as its pertains to the Treasurer/Tax Collector and her statutory duties needs to be addressed if Council instructions do not comply with the legislation.

Contact Name:

Ed DeSousa Audrey Birt

Phone: 397-4226 392-7820

Fax: 392-3649 392-0364

(City Council on April 16, 1998, had before it, during consideration of the foregoing Clause, the following report (April 15, 1998) from the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer:

Purpose:

The purpose of this report is to respond to the motions made at the March 30, 1998, Corporate Services Committee meeting, regarding what the Province intends to prohibit municipalities from placing on the tax bills, identify on the property tax bill the portion for education as determined by the Province and mock-ups of the tax bill, brochure and envelopes.

Source of Funds/Financial Implications:

Funding for the design and printing of the tax bill, administrative brochure and envelopes have been budgeted in the operating budget.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

(1) the design of the tax bill, and particularly the identification of the "New Mike Harris Property Tax", be deferred to the special meeting of Council beginning April 28, 1998, regarding the 1998 Operating and Capital Budgets;

(2) the attached list (Appendix I) of what the Province intends to prohibit municipalities from placing on their tax bill be received as information;

(3) the education portion of the tax bill be clearly identified as "Provincial"; and

(4) the colour of the final tax bill and brochure be green, with the mailing envelope being beige as presented.

Background:

With the amalgamation of the former municipalities, a new property tax bill needs to be designed and sent to taxpayers across the new City. At a special meeting of Council held on February 12, 1998, it was requested that the final tax bill be amended and include a line which reads "New Mike Harris Property Tax" and that such tax bill be prepared and submitted to the Corporate Services Committee for approval. A report was submitted, along with a sample of the new property tax bill design, which outlined various cautions on placing such wording on the tax bill. Attached (Appendix I) is a general description, provided by the Province as a draft, of what is permitted on a tax bill as may be prescribed by regulation. The list is general because we have had no final information on the components of the legislation or when the legislation may be passed but, regulations may be passed retroactive to January 1, 1998.

Taking into consideration the regulations which may be imposed on the contents of the tax bill, it is recommended that the education portion of the tax bill be clearly identified as "Provincial". This does not appear to contravene the proposed regulations at this time which state that a municipality must indicate the total amounts of taxes payable for local, upper tier and education purposes.

Coloured mock-ups of the new property tax bill and mailing envelope will be circulated for Council=s consideration. Staff are recommending the green colour for the tax bill and brochure due to its visual ease and ability to be photocopied. Some of the other colours, like blue, may be mistaken for other bills such as water. The final billing usually includes two brochures, one which is administrative, including such things as payment options, payment methods, assessment appeals, etc., and an additional accompanying brochure which incorporates communication from Council it deemed necessary to all its taxpayers. The brochures do not fall under the provincial regulations. We have not yet started to prepare our administrative brochure because there are still many decisions that need to be made by Council (i.e., due dates, tax policy, etc.), before we can begin designing it. It is anticipated that the brochure will be the same colour as the tax bill. The Council communication brochure may be any colour that Council decides.

Staff are recommending the mailing envelope be beige in order to ensure that it contains over 50 percent recycled paper, including 10 percent post consumer fibre. This will allow the Environment Canada certification stamp to be placed on the envelope.

The property tax bill has been designed in consultation with the Access and Equity Centre and has been reviewed for plain language and accessibility . We will be adding messages in various languages on the brochure instructing the public on how to get more information and clarification.

Council will be considering the 1998 Operating and Capital Budgets beginning April 28, 1998. Depending on the decisions of Council, there may or may not be a need to identify the tax bill with the phrase "New Mike Harris Property Tax". As such, it would be appropriate to defer consideration of the decision on the tax bill design to the special meeting of Council, once the final decisions are made on the 1998 Operating and Capital Budgets.

Conclusions:

We will need to finalize the design and content of the final tax bill, brochure and envelope in order to allow staff sufficient time to implement all the computer programs, artwork, ordering of supplies, etc., to meet our objectives. Any tax bill design will need to conform to possible legislation to ensure there are no legal ramifications. The tax bill design should be considered at the special meeting of Council pertaining to the 1998 budgets, beginning April 28, 1998.

Contact Name:

Ed DeSousa, Phone: 397-4226, Fax: 392-3649.

Appendix I

The first part of the proposed legislation refers to items which must appear on a tax bill. This would include the basic information and refers to such items as:

1. Name of taxpayer;

2. Assessment roll number;

3. Assessed value of property;

4. Property class;

5. Applicable tax rate;

6. Total taxes payable for local, upper tier and education purposes; and

7. Due dates; etc.

The second part refers to items which must appear on the tax bill, if applicable;

1. Amount of taxes phased-in, cancelled, deferred or for which other relief has been given; and

2. Items which have been authorized to be added to the tax bill such as utility charges, snow removal, weeds, etc., or special area rates such as local improvements or BIA levies.

The third part refers to items which must appear on the tax bill or on an attachment such as;

1. All property class tax ratios;

2. Statement that the tax liability is on the owner; and

3. Places where taxes may be paid.

The fourth part refers to items which are permissive and may appear on the tax bill such as;

1. Payment options;

2. Tax calculation formula;

3. Mortgage number;

4. Tax inquiry phone numbers; and

5. Municipal policies such as NSF cheques, receipts, ownership changes, etc.

The fifth part prohibits any items which are not listed from appearing on the tax bill unless expressly authorized to do so by the Minister.)

(A copy of the facsimile transmission (February 10, 1998) from the Province's Municipal Finance Branch respecting the placement of items on a Tax Notice, which was attached to the foregoing report, is on file in the office of the City Clerk.)

2

Tax Payment Options - Realty Tax Installments and

Pre-Authorized Tax Payment Plan (All Wards)

(City Council at its Special Meeting on April 29 and 30, 1998, amended this Clause by striking out the recommendation of the Corporate Services Committee and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

"It is recommended that the report dated April 16, 1998, from the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, embodying the following recommendations, be adopted:

'It is recommended that:

(1) the City not accept payment of taxes using credit cards; and

(2) the City implement two billings with three instalments each for payment of taxes for the interim and final tax billings (six per year in total). The alternative plan offered will be the Pre-authorized Tax Payment plan (P.T.P.), with 11 electronic withdrawals (five for the interim and six for the final).' ")

(City Council on April 16, 1998, deferred consideration of this Clause to the Special Meeting of Council to be held on Wednesday, April 29, 1998, such Clause to be considered with the 1998 Operating Budget.)

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(Clause No. 27 of Report No. 3 of the Corporate Services Committee.)

The Corporate Services Committee recommends the adoption of the report (March 12, 1998) from the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer.

The Corporate Services Committee reports, for the information of Council, having requested the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer to submit a report directly to Council for its meeting scheduled to be held on April 16, 1998:

(1) on other methods of payment of realty taxes including the use of credit cards;

(2) on what it would mean to have five realty tax installments for the remainder of 1998; and

(3) on the financial implication of having eleven realty tax installments in 1999.

The Corporate Services Committee submits the following report (March 12, 1998) from the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer:

Purpose:

This report sets out the proposed tax bill payment options, which are recommended to take effect beginning with the 1998 Final Realty Tax Bill.

Source of Funds/Financial Implications:

The payment options included in the recommended tax payment plan will improve customer service due to the expansion of the Pre-authorized Tax Payment plan (PTP). This would improve Finance Department tax processing efficiency with resulting savings dependent on the degree of participation by taxpayers in the PTP plan.

Recommendation:

It is recommended that Council approve two payment plans for payment of realty taxes whereby all Toronto taxpayers will have the option of:

(i) paying their taxes by instalment, with final taxes being payable in three instalments beginning in 1998, and interim taxes being payable in three instalments beginning in 1999, or

(ii) through a Pre-authorized Tax Payment plan.

Council Reference/Background/History:

All of the former Area Municipalities allowed the payment of realty taxes in instalments. However, the number of instalments differed for each of the Interim and Final billings, from four instalments in the former City of Toronto to two instalments in the former City of Scarborough.

Due to timing constraints for the 1998 interim tax bill, each of the former municipalities issued their own interim tax bills and the number of instalments for the payment of interim taxes continued as had previously been the case. However, the installation of the new tax system will enable the City to have a combined billing for the 1998 final realty tax bill. This report recommends a harmonization of tax instalments for the payment of realty taxes for Council's consideration.

Comments:

The former Area Municipalities billed realty taxes in two phases - an interim and a final bill. Each billing allowed for payment of taxes by instalment which varied by municipality. Appendix 1 outlines the previous schedule of tax instalments. The cities of North York, Etobicoke, Scarborough, York and East York also offered taxpayers the option of paying their taxes through a PTP plan. (Approx. 2,500 East York taxpayers took advantage of this program). However, in the fall of 1997, the contract with their outside service provider expired and was not renewed due to the impending amalgamation. As a result, East York temporarily discontinued its PTP plan. The former municipality of Toronto did not offer the option of paying their taxes through a PTP plan. With the installation of the new tax system, a PTP plan will now be available to all taxpayers across the new City. Approximately 64,400, or 16.7 percent, of taxpayers in these municipalities are currently enrolled in a PTP plan.

To encourage taxpayers to use the monthly Pre-authorized Tax Payment plan, it is recommended that realty taxes be required to be paid in six instalments, with 1998 final taxes paid in three instalments and in 1999 and thereafter, in two billings with three instalments each (See Figure 1). This combination of tax payment options is consistent with the payment plans offered by the surrounding GTA municipalities, where interim and final realty taxes are paid in either in two or three instalments, or monthly through a PTP plan. In the former municipalities of Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough and York, the implementation of their PTP plan coincided with changes to the number of instalments available for payment. These combined changes resulted in a substantial number of taxpayers enrolling in the pre-authorized tax payment plan.

Figure 1: Recommended Instalments and Pre-authorized Tax Payments (PTP) for 1998

and Future Years

One of the future considerations for Council should be the movement towards two instalments per billing. This is the practice that the former municipality of Scarborough had and is one that other surrounding GTA municipalities have or will adopt. This can be considered as the final harmonization point. The move to two instalments would be revenue neutral to taxpayers because we would have the dates two months apart (e.g., June and August as opposed to June, July and August). Taxpayers would make a larger payment one month earlier (i.e., June), but would make the same payment one month later (i.e., August) with no July payment. The two installment method would greatly reduce the amount of manual processing (i.e., post-dated cheques for the months of March and July) which will cause financial savings and processing efficiency.

The Pre-Authorized Payment Plan Design:

The PTP plan will offer taxpayers a convenient method of paying their realty taxes, with the tax payments being spread through the year. It is anticipated that a substantial number of property owners in the City of Toronto will take advantage of the PTP plan and significant savings in postage and payment processing costs will be achieved. This has already been documented in the former municipalities who offered this plan.

Enrollment in the PTP plan for 1998 will be offered in two parts. The first part will involve PTP plan application form mailings to the taxpayers of the former municipalities of Toronto and East York in April to ensure enrollment for the final tax billing. The reason for the mailing to those two municipal sites is that Toronto previously did not offer a PTP plan and East York's plan was done by an outside service provider. The second part will involve a PTP plan application form being sent to all taxpayers as part of the final tax bill mailing in June. This will give taxpayers the option of enrolling in the plan for 1999.

Projections based on existing bank agreements in the former Area Municipalities indicate that expanding the PTP across the new City may increase bank service charges by approximately $50,000.00. However, the final amount will not be known until negotiations with banking services are completed. It is anticipated that these costs would be more than offset by savings resulting from greater efficiencies in the City's payment processing activities as well as potential increased interest income resulting from the move to three common instalment dates for the final realty tax billing.

It is proposed that taxpayers taking advantage of the PTP plan in future years would pay their taxes over eleven months with no payment being deducted from the taxpayer's bank account for the month of December. This will provide taxpayer's with a one month break that will coincide with the holiday season.

Due to the delay in receiving the assessment roll for 1998, it is proposed that the 1998 final tax bill be payable through the PTP plan over a five month period of July 1 to November 1, 1998. It is anticipated that the final realty taxes will be required to be paid in three instalments in June, July and August, starting with the 1998 final bill. However, the assessment roll for 1998 is not scheduled to be delivered until April 30, 1998. Any delay in the delivery of the assessment roll will determine whether the proposed June, July and August instalment dates are possible for 1998.

Conclusions:

It is recommended that taxpayers in the City of Toronto pay their realty taxes in six instalments by conventional payment processing. Beginning with the 1998 Final Realty Tax Bill, final taxes would be payable in three instalments (June, July and August). Starting in 1999, interim taxes would be paid in three instalments (February, March and April).

Taxpayers will also be able to use a convenient alternative to paying their taxes by instalment through the Pre-Authorized Tax Payment plan which will spread their tax payments over 11 months of the year.

Contact Name:

Ed DeSousa Audrey Birt

Phone: 397-4226 Phone: 392-7820

Fax: 392-3649 Fax: 392-0364

(City Council on April 16, 1998, had before it, during consideration of the foregoing Clause, the following report (April 16, 1998) from the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer:

Purpose:

The purpose of this report is to respond to the motions made at the March 30, 1998 Corporate Services Committee meeting, pertaining to other methods of tax payments such as credit cards and the financial implications of five instalments for the remainder of 1998 and 11 instalments for 1999.

Source of Funds/Financial Implications:

The March 12, 1998 report to the Corporate Services Committee recommended two billing and payment plans for property taxes: (I) two billings with three instalments; and (ii) two billings with 11 electronic payments. The proposed payment options are intended to improve the Finance Department tax processing efficiency with resulting savings dependent on the participation rate of customers on the Pre-authorized Tax Payment plan (P.P.).

The financial cost of using credit cards would be approximately $1 million.

The financial cost of moving from the proposed three instalment due dates on the final billing to five would be over $6 million in 1998. The financial cost of moving to 11 instalments for 1999 is over $24 million.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

(1) the City not accept payment of taxes using credit cards; and

(2) the City implement two billings with three instalments each for payment of taxes for the interim and final tax billings (six per year in total). The alternative plan offered will be the Pre-authorized Tax Payment plan (P.P.), with 11 electronic withdrawals (five for the interim and six for the final).

Background:

At its meeting held on March 30, 1998, the Corporate Services Committee requested the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer to provide additional information on the report pertaining to tax payment options for regular instalments and Pre-authorized Tax Payments (P.P.).

Credit Card Payment:

The former municipalities had various billing and payment methods for taxes. As part of a comprehensive review of business practices and the budgetary consideration process, there was a need to make some choices as to best practices. The payment methods included a cash transaction either through cheques, cashiers, financial institutions, debit card or credit card. The former Borough of East York was the only former municipality that offered payment by credit card. A survey of municipalities surrounding the City indicates that Vaughan, Markham and Mississauga do not offer credit card payments either. The annual cost of providing this service was approximately $50,000.00, for the 6,500 accounts who used credit cards (out of 27,000 total tax accounts for the Borough). The cost related to the percentage fee charged by the financial institution for the use of the credit card service by the municipality (ranging from approximately 1.75 percent to 1.85 percent, depending on the credit card company and the volumes).

In considering this payment option for the whole City, it is important to note that the City pays the user fee based on the total amount of taxes due, including the education portion. Offering this service across the new City could cost approximately $1 million. This is calculated based on the cost per account and percentage of users to total tax accounts in East York and comparing it to the 575,000 accounts in the new City. Given our current budgetary constraints, this service is not recommended as a payment method at this time.

Instalments:

Staff have proposed that the City implement three instalment dates for the remainder of 1998 and that they be at the end of July, August and September. Previously, municipalities offered instalments ranging from two in Scarborough to four in Toronto, with the majority offering three. When payments are made under this system, predominantly by cheque, it represents a very labour intensive and costly processing method. The recommended alternate billing and payment plan for 1998 is the Pre-Authorized Tax Payment plan (P.P.) with five automatic and electronic withdrawal dates, from the first business day of August until December. The dates have been revised due to the Provincial announcement that the assessment roll would be delayed one month.

The impact of having five instalments for the remainder of 1998, not through electronic withdrawal, would be significant. The City would need to redesign its proposed tax bill to accommodate the five instalments and would represent an increase in paper costs due to the length or an additional tax bill, plus an increased weight as it relates to postage.

The increase in amount of instalments will also have a direct impact on processing costs. Currently, casual or temporary staff are brought in to assist with the processing of post-dated cheques. This involves opening each piece of mail and then manually sorting through its contents. The cheques and stubs have to be matched and sorted by the due date. In addition, many envelopes are not complete due to missing stubs and cheques, incorrect amounts and due dates, attached correspondence, staples, etc. The task is very time consuming and an inefficient use of resources. The casual staff will need to be kept on almost twice as long, plus permanent staff will be required to supervise and assist the casual staff, which will take them away from their regular duties for a longer period of time. It is estimated that 30-40 percent of payments are made through post-dated cheques. Based on 575,000 total tax accounts, it is estimated that we would process 1.2 million pieces of mail (cheque and stub) for three instalments and approximately 2 million pieces for five instalments.

The City would have a negative cash flow impact of over $6 million (i.e., lost investment income), due to the receipt of its funds much later (November versus September). The additional tax bill design, mailing and processing the post-dated cheques will place an additional strain on our financial resources.

The impact would be much greater from a cash flow and administrative perspective if we instituted 11 non-electronic instalments for 1999. The projected cost would be over $24 million, due to the timing of our cash flows, tax bill design and mailing costs, and processing of almost 4.5 million pieces of mail.

It is important to note that the City will be offering the Pre-authorized Tax Payment (P.P.) option to all taxpayers beginning with the final tax billing this year. This is a customer service enhancement and will provide our customers with a convenient way to pay their taxes, but also add to our administrative efficiency. The P.P. option will allow taxpayers to pay their taxes over five equal instalments for the final tax billing in 1998 and 11 instalments for 1999, as proposed in our current report to Council. Those taxpayers who will feel the impact of CVA and will have difficulty making payments under the three instalment plan, should be strongly encouraged to sign onto the P.P. plan.

Conclusions:

Given the current budget constraints and the various payment alternatives that are offered to our customers, the credit card option of paying taxes is not recommended at this point in time, but should be reconsidered in the future.

In 1998 and future years, all customers will have the ability to pay their taxes over 11 equal monthly instalments electronically (1998 - five). This represents a convenient and efficient payment plan that alleviates the need to write and mail cheques to the customer and negates the increase in the amount of "manual" interim or final billing instalments to the City.

Contact Name:

Ed DeSousa, Phone: 397-4226, Fax: 392-3649

(A copy of the table (April 9, 1998), headed "Cash Flow Analysis" which compares the financial implications of instalment payment plans, and which was attached to the foregoing report, is on file in the office of the City Clerk.)

Respectfully submitted,

DICK O'BRIEN,

Chair

Toronto, March 30, 1998

(Report No. 4 of The Corporate Services Committee was adopted, as amended, by City Council at its Special Meeting on April 29 and 30, 1998.)