The City of Penticton’s online presence got a major boost recently, thanks to the introduction of online billing.
Property tax notices will make a paperless debut this year, as Penticton residents now have the choice to leave hard copies behind in favour of electronic notices. The city is inviting taxpayers to sign up to receive property tax notices electronically for 2013, the first year that the entire process — from the initial notice to payment — can be conducted without paper.
Electronic copies of property tax notices have been available in the past, but provincial legislation still required paper copies of notices to be mailed to homeowners.
The province amended the Community Charter in February to allow all municipalities to send property tax notices electronically. And while other municipalities are rushing to set up systems for this year, Penticton already had channels in place to accommodate the new electronic service.
Residents can now receive their e-bill property tax notices as soon as they are prepared, rather than waiting for the hard copy to arrive in the mail. Through their MyCity account, the property owner can view their property tax notices posted online in PDF format. Those notices will be archived online, allowing residents to view their notice history from previous years or download the files to their own computers.
To take advantage of the completely electronic system, property owners need to register with MyCity by visiting http://mycity.penticton.ca and signing up for the service by May 31.
Once they have created a MyCity account and successfully activated it, the customer needs to click on register an account and then select account type “Taxes,” enter the folio number from last year’s property tax notice along with the access code. From there, click the registered folio and then on “eBills” on the side menu and select desired method of delivery, mail or e-billing.
If you do not have your prior year’s notice or for more information, contact the tax department at 250-490-2485 or email taxclk@penticton.ca.