Penticton Herald

The Penticton and District Community Resources Society has been taken off the hook for an expected tax bill from city hall.

Tanya Behardien, the society’s executive director, told city council the non-profit organization has traditionally been exempted from property taxes for its offices on Ellis Street. However, this year it was shocked to find its two child-care centres on Edmonton Avenue were being tabbed for a tax bill totalling $10,932.

“We absolutely can’t absorb it,” she said. Behardien noted that in previous years the society was told there was no need to apply for a tax exemption for the two facilities, which look after about 100 children a day.

Colin Fisher, the city’s chief financial officer, admitted the two child-care facilities “fell through the cracks” in the city’s efforts to register all leases on city-owned properties.

Council unanimously agreed to approve a community grant equal to the taxation amount for 2014.