Finance and Taxes

The Town of Goderich offers five convenient payment options:

Pre-authorized Payment Plans
There are three pre-authorized payment plan options:

1. 11 Month Plan (January to November inclusive)
2. Due Date Installment Plan (4 payments per year)
3. 11 Month Plan for Properties in Arrears 

Please read the conditions on the pre-authorized payment form.  If you would like to sign up for pre-authorized payments, complete the form and a copy of a void cheque or a print out of the account information from a financial institution and submit it to the Town of Goderich tax department. This method of payment is only available for payment of property realty accounts currently not in arrears.

The plan will consist of 11 monthly payments being January to November of each year. The
installments will be calculated based on the previous year’s taxes plus an estimated increase. You
will be notified of the amount of the first 10 payments by the end of December of the preceding
year. The final payment (November) will be adjusted (higher or lower) to reflect the actual total.
You will be notified of this amount in October.

The taxpayer may cancel from this plan upon written notice 10 days prior to an installment being
withdrawn. When a property is sold – the payment plan must be cancelled. It is the property owner’s
responsibility to notify the Town of Goderich Tax Department about any cancellations or changes to
be made.

The Town of Goderich may cancel a taxpayer from this payment plan if the bank dishonours 2
consecutive payments. (Regular NSF fees will apply to dishonoured payments. Taxpayers must
re-submit the NSF payment prior to the next pre-authorized cheque date.)

Any additional bills issued due to improvements to property, new structures etc. will be billed
separately throughout the year and are not included in this plan.

You will continue to receive the interim and final tax bill during the year. These bills are for
your information only.

If you have a change in your financial information or wish to cancel your existing tax pre-authorized payment plan, please complete and submit the change/cancel pre-authorization form to the Town of Goderich tax department.

At a Bank

Taxes may be paid at any branch of a chartered bank or financial institution in the Town of Goderich. The Town of Goderich is not responsible for any service charge that financial institutions apply due to property tax payments made at financial institutions.

By Mail

Town of Goderich
57 West St.
Goderich, ON N7A 2K5

The taxpayer assumes responsibility for the late arrival of any payments delivered to Town Hall. Please ensure you provide adequate time for the delivery of a payment by mail. A penalty will be charged if payments are received after the due date. Please make cheques payable to The Town of Goderich and include the remittance portion only with payment. If you require your tax bill to be stamped paid, please include the entire bill and a self-addressed stamped envelope.

By Telephone or Internet Banking

Check with your financial institution to register for telephone or internet banking. Your roll number is the account number required. Financial institutions vary in the amount of numbers they require for an account number. You may remove the first 4 numbers (4028) and/or the last 4 numbers (0000) if needed.

In Person

The Town Hall, 57 West Street, Goderich Monday - Friday 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.  You may deposit a cheque in the mailbox located to the left of the front doors. Absolutely no cash payments in the mailbox. Please call the Property Tax Department at 519-524-8344 ext. 213 if you require further information.

The property tax rates on this site are provided as a convenience to ratepayers and the Town does not guarantee the accuracy of this information. These rates do not include garbage fees, etc. 

2023 Tax Rates

The 2023 Interim tax bills will be mailed out by the end of February and will be payable in two installments:

• March 31, 2023
• June 30, 2023

The 2023 Final tax bills will be mailed out by mid August and are payable in two installments: 

• September 29, 2023
• November 30, 2023

Failure to receive a tax bill does not relieve the taxpayer from payment of taxes nor from liability of penalty for late payment. The Municipality is not responsible for taxpayers paying taxes on wrong properties. If a tax bill for the wrong property is received, please return it to the Town Hall immediately. 

To avoid penalty and interest charges payment must be received in our office on or before the due date.

There shall be imposed on all taxes a penalty for non-payment or late payment of taxes in default of the installment dates.  The penalty shall be one and one-quarter percent (1 ¼%) of the amount in default on the first day of default. There shall be imposed interest charges on all taxes due and unpaid according to the installment dates. The interest charges shall be one and one-quarter percent (1 ¼%) of the amount in default on the first day of each calendar month during which default continues. Interest shall be calculated as simple interest and not accumulative.

The Town of Goderich charges the following fees:

• Returned cheques: $25.00
• Tax Certificates: $50.00
• Zoning Certificates: $75.00

If a property tax bill is received for a property that has been sold, please return the tax bill to the Town of Goderich, 57 West Street, Goderich, ON N7A 2K5 with a note stating the reason for the return of the bill.

If you have recently purchased a property in the Town of Goderich and have not received a tax bill, please contact the office at (519)524-8344 ext. 213.

If a property owner has a change in mailing address, please notify the Town of Goderich in writing using one of the following options:

By mail to: Town of Goderich, 57 West Street, Goderich, ON  N7A 2K5

By fax to: (519)524-7209

By email to: lorirounds@goderich.ca

Failure to receive a tax bill due to a recent sale or a change of address, does not relieve the taxpayer from payment of taxes nor from liability of penalty/interest for late payments.

A supplementary tax bill is a bill issued by the Town of Goderich and reflects any additions or improvements made to a property.

Owners of new construction, residential or commercial, will receive a land only tax bill until such time as the "bricks and mortar" are assessed. MPAC will supply the municipality with the new assessment information and the supplementary tax bill will be issued and is effective from the date of occupancy.

It can take up to two years for a property to be assessed. Supplementary billings can occur anytime during the year and taxes for the time period from when occupancy was granted to when the assessment information is received by the Municipality would be billed all within the same year and come due at the same time. For this reason, you are encouraged to start setting aside funds immediately following your purchase and start of construction for the future supplementary tax bills. If the subject property is on a pre-authorized payment plan, please be advised that supplemental bills would not be included in the automatic withdrawls. Please pay the supplemental bills separately or contact the Town Hall to discuss other options.

In an effort to avoid a delay in the new assessment of your property, you may contact the MPAC office at 1-866-296-6722 to request an inspection of your property.

If you are a registered Charitable or Non Profit Organization under the provisions of the Canada Income Tax Act subsection 248(1) and own or lease space in a building that is assessed as commercial and/or industrial, you may be eligible for a rebate in property taxes for the current taxation year.

Charitable Rebate Application Form

Application for Appeal under Section 357/358 of the Municipal Act

A property owner may apply for a change in assessment under Section 357 or 358 of the Municipal Act for any of the following events:

• Change in tax class of property -s357(1)(a)
• Land has become exempt from taxation - s357(1)(c)
• Building razed by fire, demolition or otherwise - s357(1)(d)(i)
• Building damaged by fire, demolition, or otherwise & substantially unusable - s357(1)(d)(ii)
• Repairs/renovations to land prevented normal use for minimum three months - s357(1)(g)
• Land has become vacant or excess land - s357(1)(b)
• Overcharged due to a gross or manifest error, clerical or factual in nature - s357(1)(f), 358

Please complete the form and submit to Goderich Town Hall. Completed forms must be received by the Municipality no later than February 28th of the year following the taxation year to which the application relates.

Application for Tax Appeal Form