Attention tax scofflaws, the city may be ready to give you a break.
As many property owners have painfully discovered, the interest that accrues on owed taxes is brutal. The city charges 1.8 per cent a month, which works out to a punishing 24 per cent annually. That rate applies to taxes more than 60 days in arrears.
With interest rates like that, it doesn't take long to get in way over your head with your municipal taxes.
If left too long in arrears, the taxed property is sold at auction to pay the taxes. In the interests of helping taxpayers in arrears get out from under a mountain of debt, city council has before it a plan that reduces the interest rate in exchange for a commitment to a payment plan.
The proposal would allow taxpayers who are more than a year behind to pay off the debt in monthly instalments. The interest rate would be lowered to one per cent a month and the size of the payments would be determined by the size of the debt.
In a perfect world, everybody would pay all their taxes. It would never rain on Folk on the Rocks and the Leafs would own the Stanley Cup. But life isn't like that.
Human nature and circumstances conspire to ensure that some taxes go unpaid. Punishing interest rates, in some cases, only exacerbate the situation, leaving people with desperate problems and the city with some unwanted real estate.
The city's proposal seems like an appropriate compromise. It is more important for the city to collect the taxes owed than it is to chase after negligent property owners in the hopes of getting the money some day.
Certainly, making payments on a regular basis is a more satisfactory arrangement than losing your house to the sheriff.
With Giant Mine out of the mix, the city's tax base has been reduced considerably. Collecting what taxes are owed should be a priority. The proposed plan to ease the pain for those in arrears makes sense.
We applaud the public school board's decision to stop funding the lawsuit launched against a Yellowknife parent.
It was not an easy thing to do.
The lawsuit was started last year by Yellowknife Education District No. 1 superintendent Ken Woodley over comments a parent made to radio station CJCD.
Board trustees took the position they were a corporation and had to stand behind their superintendent. If that's true, they forgot parents are the greater power -- the shareholders.
After some dedicated parents started a petition and publicly protested, the board eventually got the point. It was a hard lesson but an important one. It makes them better trustees.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
When I first heard about the new community volunteer reading program at the Leo Ussak elementary school in Rankin Inlet, I immediately added my name to the list of volunteers.
Full marks must be given to principal Cheryl Forbes for coming up with this unique concept which benefits young students and, at the same time, affords people in the community the opportunity to get involved and help raise student reading skills.
The bonus of the equation is that the hour a week volunteers spend with the students is downright fun and enjoyable.
Young students need to know adults in their community care about them and how they perform at school. The volunteer reading project gives adults the chance to show they do care about the younger generations coming through our school system and that they gain a valuable,first-class education.
Another benefit to Forbes's project is the opening of communication between kids and volunteers during these sessions and the increased levels of understanding and awareness which can result.
As beneficial as all these points are, the volunteer reading project also recognizes and addresses another important, yet often overlooked or ignored, fact -- the responsibility for our children's education does not rest solely with our educators. In fact, far from it.
Much of the effort, or lack thereof, our children ultimately put forth in school is often a direct reflection of the learning environment in their own homes. Children become highly motivated by positive reinforcement and strong encouragement from those they love, admire and respect. In short, our approval is important to them.
There can be no substitute for taking an active interest in your child's education. Parents should be encouraged at every opportunity to help their kids with homework, ask what they've learned in school and honestly listen when their children talk to them.
Having more than 40 adults from the community showing up to work with these young students reinforces the will to succeed in those who receive encouragement at home and helps instill a sense of purpose in those who do not.
And, although an hour a week is no substitute for a positive learning environment in the home, it does show students there are many adults in the community who want to see them do well with their education and, more importantly, are willing to help them succeed.
My first session with the young students was everything I had hoped and more. And, yes, even though it was but one very small grain of sand in a child's education which cost me precious little in terms of time and effort -- I walked away from the school with a warm feeling inside.
Last week I learned about the weather, why turtles have no teeth, why sugary foods are not good foods and why differences between people are good things, not bad. I can hardly wait to see what I will learn from the kids this week.