NEWS RELEASE
TIMMINS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
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In advance of this week’s City Council meeting, the chamber has produced an open letter to Mayor and Council that outlines the business community’s top priorities and provides key recommendations as to how the city can help alleviate financial pressures faced by business owners during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our community, particularly the small business sector, is facing significant challenges and economic impacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Val Venneri, President of the chamber. “Many businesses have already laid-off numerous staff while some have shut down completely. We believe that many more businesses will be required to take similar steps in the coming days and weeks.”
The chamber has compiled the following recommended temporary actions for consideration by the City of Timmins:
- Interest-free deferral of property tax installments scheduled for May 29, 2020;
- Interest-free deferral of water/wastewater payments for all businesses;
- Cancellation of daily fixed cost water/wastewater charges for high water-usage businesses including hotels and restaurants;
- Elimination of all parking fees in business areas;
- Cancellation of development service department fees (building, planning, zoning) to stimulate construction activities; and
- Cancellation of all business-related permit fees including signage permit fees.
The city’s portion of Municipal Accommodation Taxes collected in 2020 can be used to support recovery efforts for the local tourism sector and its related businesses.
The chamber is advocating to all orders of government in support of measures that can assist business owners and their employees. For up-to-date business information, visit the chamber’s Facebook and LinkedIn page. A resource page for business preparedness toolkit as it pertains to business continuity and recovery information is available on the chamber’s website. To access the toolkit, visit: www.timminschamber.on.ca/covid-19.html
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