Weekly newsletter: February 27, 2024

Hi everyone,

A few days ago, my wife and I returned from Hong Kong where we visited family, celebrated Lunar New Year, and ate all the food. We knew it was a good trip, because we were feeling ready to come back to Ottawa the last few days we were there.

In truly me fashion, I found only some success in not thinking about work, but I still had several emails and tasks I had to catch up on the last few days. I’m very grateful to my staff for keeping the proverbial lights on at the Ward 24 office.

I shared some photos from my trip on my Facebook page, so have a look if you’re interested!

New partial right-on-red prohibition

Right turns on red are now partially prohibited for motorists turning from Stoneway (Farm Boy end) to northbound Woodroffe towards Fallowfield. The restriction is effective Fridays from noon to 3:00 pm only.

The partial restriction was added to reduce conflicts with traffic departing the SNMC mosque via their Woodroffe Avenue exit then U-turning at Claridge-Stoneway to go north following their main worship times.

Prohibiting U-turns on Woodroffe instead was considered, but the concern is it would just push the issue to the next intersection or drive motorists to do funny things like turning around on Claridge or Stoneway close to the intersection with Woodroffe.

Essentially, the partial right-on-red ban keeps the issue “contained” to Claridge-Stoneway/Woodroffe, but I am aware of some displeasure from residents off the north end of Stoneway, based on some early email feedback.

In reality, the conflicts only arise on Fridays for three 15-minute windows following the end of the SNMC’s main worship times, but the MTO’s signage design guidelines favour blocks of time that can be seen easier and discerned quicker by motorists.

The intersection will be monitored periodically to see if the partial restriction helps or if it causes more issues than it solves.

Expect an update late-May or early-June.

Property tax

Interim property tax bills are due March 21, 2024. All residents should have received their bills via their distribution method of choice.

New this year, residents who paid their property taxes through a BANK mortgage in previous years should check if their bank has phased out such a service. This can be done by contacting your bank or by checking the property tax portion of your online ServiceOttawa account.

The latter can be done by viewing your tax account under the “account details” tab. Under the category called “payment through financial institution,” if there is a “NO” and you paid your property tax through a bank mortgage last year, please ensure you pay directly to the city this year.

For residents paying their property taxes on their own for the first time, there are multiple ways to do so.

• Online banking – add “OTTAWA PROPERTY TAX” as a payee for bill payments, then enter your roll number as the account number

• Pre-authorised debit – register through your online ServiceOttawa account

• By mail – City of Ottawa Property Tax, PO Box 4647 Stn. A, Toronto, Ontario, M5W 0E7

• In person at a client service centre – City Hall, Ben Franklin, among others

• Secure payment drop boxes at client service centres – City Hall, Ben Franklin, etc.

Residents who wish to pay using credit or debit directly on ServiceOttawa will be redirected to the Paymentus payment module. Please note Paymentus charges a service charge for their services.

Final property tax bills for 2024 will be distributed in May with a due date of June 20, 2024.

Please also note Vacant Unit Tax declarations are due March 21, 2024, same date as interim property tax bills.

Enjoy your week!

-Wilson