City of Courtenay Annual Report 2021

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY New employee portal A new one-stop portal is now available for City employees to easily access timesheets and internal job postings, as well as report any health and safety incidents or near misses. The portal, developed in-house, provides staff with fast, simplified access to these essential productivity tools, whether they are working at a desk or out in the field.

Internal employee "Help Desk" requests Over the past three years there has been a large increase in the demands on the Information Technology division, with a 25% jump in Help Desk tickets in 2020 via the online reporting tool. Demand continued to be high in 2021. Reported Help Desk Tickets do not include service requests made by walk-ins or over the phone. Contributing factors to this increase include the transition to a remote workforce for numerous employees due to the pandemic, along with attrition and increased awareness of the online reporting tool. NUMBER OF HELP DESK TICKETS:

FINANCIAL SERVICES Increase in "on time" property tax payments

The percentage of Courtenay property owners who have paid their property taxes by the July due date has grown, with a 2.5% increase in on-time payments over the past three years. By the end of 2021, all but 1.3% of property taxes had been collected, down from 1.6% in 2019.

email. Staff will also contact the bank on title to request payments on behalf of the owner, and run newspaper ads. With the gradual decline in telephone landlines making it increasingly challenging to reach property owners, outreach through other available communication channels may also be attempted when traditional methods have failed. Through these concerted efforts, tax sales in the City are a rare occurrence.

By the end of 2021, all but

1.3% of property taxes had been collected.

ON TIME PROPERTY TAX PAYMENTS

Property owners who pay on time avoid an automatic 10% late-payment penalty in July. Following three years of non payment, municipalities are also required by the Local Government Act to auction the property through a tax sale. To avoid this unhappy outcome, City Finance staff make every effort to connect with property owners whose taxes are unpaid, through multiple letters, and if other contact information is available, staff will reach out by phone and

City of Courtenay | 2021 Annual Report

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