About two-dozen Breslau property owners got a nasty surprise in their mailbox this week.
A bill from Woolwich Township to the tune of $13,950.19 just before the holidays.
The bill or “special service levy” relates to water infrastructure work that took place in 2014/2015 along Woolwich Street in Breslau, well before some of the residents lived on those properties.
Jared Puppe, Director of Infrastructure Services, Township of Woolwich, was a guest on The Mike Farwell Show and helped explain what happened.
He said the entire project began with a community survey.
“What Woolwich does is look to at least gain 51 per cent approval for that (project) before moving forward. Council technically does not need community support to enact a special service levy, but I can say that has been the past practice by Woolwich council. They have looked to garner that support before moving forward.”
And that’s exactly what the township did at the time, and support was overwhelming. In fact, Puppe said around 77 per cent of respondents were in favour of the project.
So, it went ahead.
Typically, when work like this takes place, the property owner is billed when construction is completed, usually within about a year. But, Puppe said that didn’t happen in this case because of a legal battle.
That legal battle prevented the bills from being sent when the construction wrapped up. And, the court case wasn’t resolved until late last year.
Puppe said the township recognizes it dropped the ball when it came to communicating with the property owners.
“This wasn’t a typical process, and certainly it did not warrant a typical communication response. We should have been communicating with the community throughout that process, at least updating people. And that did not happen, so for that I apologize, as this is a pretty extreme bill.”
While the residents were understandably upset at receiving the bill, they were equally upset at how unclear the letter was. Social media posts report confusion and worry about coming up with the money on short notice, in the midst of an affordability crisis.
Puppe said the letter was inadequate.
“Another piece I need to apologize on behalf of the township for is the letter that went out to residents is going to be revised, and there is going to be an updated letter sent out this week. What I can share with everybody is that residents are asked to contact our finance department. All we’re asking for at this time is how they wish to pay,” he said.
Puppe mentioned two options: lump sum payment or 20 year amortization at prime rate plus two per cent.
“Payment will not be due until May of 2026.” said Puppe. He went on to say, “If there are hardship cases, please do contact us to talk that over as well.”
“It’s clear that we needed to do a much better job of communicating with residents. We should have been appreciating that with the lapse in time, there could have been ownership changes occurring. That’s a failure on our end. That’s something we endeavour to do better going forward. Again, I just want to apologize on behalf of the Township for the communication piece, for sure.”
