Councillor’s Communiqué : December  2005 - Issue # 97

HRM can help homeowners pay their property taxes through a payment plan or a variety of assistance programs, especially persons with low-income households of $27,000 or less. Deadline for Applications is December 31^st.   For more details: www.halifax.ca/boardscom/bccgrants/ResidentialProertyTaxPrograms.html .

Or call HRM Call Centre 490-4000. Applications must be accompanied by a copy of your Revenue Canada Personal Income Tax Assessment Summary Sheet. If you can=t locate yours, call 1-800-959-8281 to have a copy sent to you. If eligible, you can get up to a maximum $700 taken off of your taxes. Please note there is a Minimum Property Tax Levy of $100. The maximum rebates will not lower your tax bill below that minimum limit.  

As reported back in June 2005, Issue # 91, applicants can now take advantage of applying for both the partial exemption (rebate) and deferral programs.  In the past one could only apply for one or the other but not both of these programs. Therefore, one can now get a rebate to lower one's bill, then defer the balance until one has the means to pay the balance. 

Seniors should also check out the NS Property Tax Rebate Program. That Provincial program will provide each qualifying recipient with a 50% rebate of the property taxes paid to a maximum of $400. To find out more info; call 1-877-296-9338 or 424-4500. Application deadline is also December 31^st.

NEW HRM INTEGRATED DISPATCH

HRM has opened a new Integrated Dispatch and Telecommunication Centre for our police and fire services at 21 Mount Hope Avenue:  the Eric Spicer Building, in Woodside. This marks a major advancement  in consolidating HRM's Emergency and Non-Emergency Call Taking and Dispatch Services into one new state-of-the-art facility. Also, it allows for closer integration of emergency and non-emergency call taking and dispatch in close proximity to the Joint Federal, Provincial and Municipal Emergency Measures Operations Centre.

HRM joins the ranks of municipalities such as Montreal, Toronto, Windsor and Calgary in investing in the infrastructure to support public safety and service delivery. Integrated Emergency Services (IES) is the public safety communications section for the HRM. During the 2004 calendar year, it answered 75,518 calls on the 9-1-1 line from the urban Metro areas alone. IES also integrates the calls and dispatches our 63 Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Services stations. Last year, 13,545 fire calls were dispatched. In June, the RCMP were added as a client of IES and this is expected to increase volume calls by 35-40 % in 2005.

Depending upon the urgency of a call, now the closest police car will respond to it regardless of which Police Force (HRPS or RCMP) detachment it hails from it. Now it will be possible to have a police car with either a Buffalo or Beaver emblem on it to respond to our local emergencies. This initiative should give us much more peace of mind knowing that in a time of need we will be responded to even sooner than ever before.