Queens Says No Thanks To Provincial Loan

The province is coming to the aid of municipalities struggling to deal with tax shortfalls from COVID-19.

Premier Stephen McNeil announced a $380 million loan program to allow municipalities to borrow money at a preferred rate and continue providing essential services to their communities.

Many municipalities across the province are extending the dates to pay property taxes or service fees for residents struggling to make ends meet because of the pandemic.

McNeil says conversations between the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities and Municipal Affairs Minster Chuck Porter led to the creation of the program.

“Some municipalities have greater financial wherewithal to withstand that, some have higher capacity to go to lending institutions to acquire money to hold them over. We wanted to do something collectively.”

To apply for the program, municipalities first have to determine their need and submit their request to the Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

The money will be released to the municipal unit within 24 hours of the Nova Scotia Municipal Finance Corporation approving the amount and they’ll have six months to begin repaying the loan and three years to pay it off.

Mayor David Dagley says the Region of Queens will have to look closely at the program, but doesn’t think they will be pursuing it immediately.

“Expenses such as interest on loans would need to be passed to municipal taxpayers. As mayor I’m very conscious of adding any expenses to our taxpayers.”

Dagley say the region is better positioned than some other municipalities to weather the storm.

“We have a number of reserves that we have set aside for known future expenses and we have an ability to borrow from some of those reserves and then pay it back as taxpayers pay their tax bills.”

Tax bills will be coming out in early June and payment is due by the end of July.

The mayor says in addition to residents who are not impacted by the COVID-19 restrictions and continue to work, Queens has a large proportion of residents who are seniors on fixed pensions whose income hasn’t changed and will still pay their bills on time.

But Dagley assures those who may have trouble paying their taxes, region staff are there to help.

“We want to work with everybody to provide solutions and not cause more pain.”

Reported by Ed Halverson 
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson