— Late delivery of tax payment blamed on Canada Post —

(OSOYOOS TIMES — August 9, 2006)

By Lawrence McMahenrnOsoyoos Times

An Osoyoos homeowner is hopping mad that the Town has hit her with a $243 penalty for late payment of her annual property taxes.
Joanna Starczynowski, owner of the house at 6210 Nighthawk Drive, says she did everything right and mailed her tax cheque from the Lower Mainland eight days before the July 14 deadline, but a Canada Post foul-up “ that she can prove by the postmarks on the envelope “ waylaid her payment.
As soon as she found out on July 21 that her cheque hadn't arrived in Osoyoos, Starczynowski immediately paid the taxes that day by Internet “ but the Town's administration won't budge and says she must pay the penalty.
Starczynowski has been told her only recourse with the Town is to appeal to the mayor and councillors, and she is doing that. She has sent a letter to Council laying out the whole chain of events and asking for the tax penalty to be waived. She hopes Council will deal with her appeal at its August 14 meeting.
Helen Koning, the Town's chief administrative officers, says while she can't comment on an individual tax case, the Town does apply the penalty if the tax payment is not received on time. She says there are times when taxpayers argue that it was a foul-up by Canada Post or a bank that made their payment late, but Koning says the taxpayer can then take that matter up with Canada Post or the bank.
She notes that taxpayers have many months in which to get their payment to the Town, and don't have to leave it until the last minute. Koning also says she points out to people in this situation that the late-payment penalty should not be seen as a reflection on the person involved.
She adds that in cases like this, the chances are that [the penalty] will not be waived by Council.
But Starczynowski is fighting it: I gave it enough time to get here, well within Canada Post's stated delivery time of three days, and this [late delivery] was out of my control. At this point I refuse to pay the penalty. I'm appealing.rnShe has also sent her appeal letter to Michael Ryan, president of the Osoyoos Now citizens group, hoping for his support.
Starczynowski and her husband recently became owners of the Nighthawk home that her parents, Alojzy and Jadwiga Wojcik, had owned since 1977.
In her August 1st letter to Council and Ryan, Starczynowski notes that the property taxes payable on the home have never been late in the past 29 years.
She says she mailed a cheque for the $2,438.81 for the 2006 property taxes to the town from her home in Surrey, B.C. on July 6. When she was notified by the Town of Osoyoos on July 21 that payment hadn't arrived, she immediately contacted the Town office and, after finding out she could pay online, did so immediately. She points out that the tax payment forms sent to her by the Town didn't tell her she could pay online.
Starczynowski goes on in her letter to note that the envelope shows Canada Post misdirected her payment. Postmarks show the envelope was received by Canada Post in the Lower Mainland on July 6, was in Regina, Saskatchewan on July 11, and was back in Vancouver on July 19. It finally arrived at the Osoyoos Town office on July 24 “ 18 days after it was mailed and 10 days after the tax payment deadline.
As an honest citizen, I had mailed the tax payment within a sufficient time frame, had sufficient funds on deposit and as in the past, have and will continue my taxes up to date. I trust this matter will be resolved with empathy and understanding, Starczynowski writes in her letter of appeal.
She says what really makes the whole thing very ironic is that she works as a mortgage specialist and has worked in the past as a bill collector. I tell everyone to make their payments on time, and I have always done that myself, she says.
Starczynowski says she won't be able to attend the August 14th Council meeting, but hopes the mayor and councillors will help her out. She says even the banks show compassion when mistakes happen that aren't people's fault, and they make allowances for that.
In the meantime, Starczynowski says she has contacted Canada Post and it has told her a manager is looking into the late delivery situation.