North Battleford city council is holding off until next month on a decision to take on an outside firm to collect outstanding municipal tax arrears.
A recommendation had been made to engage Western Municipal Tax Solutions Inc. of Saskatoon by signing a master agreement with them and pass a bylaw to appoint the firm as exclusive agent for the City.
Currently the City engages collection agencies to put liens on property, but Finance Director Matthew Hartney explained to council the idea here is to take a different approach to arrears.
The idea is to collect cash, as opposed to the old practice of the City collecting liens and taking over ownership of properties.
However, council will hold off on a decision on Western Municipal Tax Solutions until March, as the City plans to look further at the issue.
At Monday's meeting, tax arrears were identified as a serious problem, with the City losing a significant chunk of revenue due to unpaid municipal taxes.
According to numbers provided in a memo from Hartney, total tax arrears owed are in excess of $1.1 million - an amount described Monday night by Councillor Ryan Bater as "staggering".
"It's very important that we start to collect that. We have tax-paying citizens here in North Battleford who are subsidizing those who aren't," said Bater.
