Three weeks after Leduc declared a local state of emergency over the coronavirus pandemic, the city announced new measures it says are aimed at helping those in the community facing financial troubles because of COVID-19.

“Council has clearly heard that residents and businesses in our community are suffering financial difficulties as a result of the ongoing pandemic,” Leduc Mayor Bob Young said in a news release on Monday. “As an organization, we are fortunate to be in a position where we are able to support our community and alleviate some of the hardship.”

The city said it is eliminating previously approved tax increases and decided tax penalties won’t be applied for the remainder of 2020, for both residential and non-residential ratepayers. Non-residential ratepayers will also now have the option of deferring tax payments until Dec. 31, 2020 upon request.

City officials said Monday that they are now expecting that they will have to use reserve funds and lines of credit to cover costs associated with the COVID-19 public health crisis.

“These include direct costs, such as overtime for essential services areas, materials and supplies and capital costs, as well as indirect costs resulting from deferred utility payments, reduced fines, utility and tax penalty elimination, among others,” the city said.

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