MORE TIME
This year, the Municipality is spreading out the two tax bills as much as possible to provide relief for those who are out of work or facing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

EXTENDED DUE DATES
The interim tax bill will be issued May 1, 2020 and payment will not be due until July 31, 2020
The next water bill will be issued in April 2020 and payment will not be due until July 31, 2020

NO INTEREST CHARGES
Effective immediately, the Municipality will not be charging interest on all tax and water accounts. Interest will resume for the month of July for those accounts not paid by July 31st, 2020.

QUESTIONS?
If you have questions about your property tax or water bills, Municipal staff can be reached through the general office at 902-678-6141 or 1-888-337-2999 or by emailing inquiry@countyofkings.ca.

With the rapidly rising use of sanitizing and disposable wipes amid the COVID-19 crisis, the Municipality of the County of Kings reminds residents and businesses of the importance of NOT flushing wipes of any sort- including those labelled “Flushable” or “Biodegradable”.

We are already seeing impacts on our municipal sewer system due to the increase in usage of these and other products. Pump Stations are being blocked and disabled and the only way to clear the obstruction is to physically handle the pump and remove the sewer debris by hand.

This unnecessary action puts you, your home and/or business at risk of a sewer backup. It is also an avoidable and unpleasant use of resources. The Municipality of the County of Kings thanks our staff for their continued efforts in keeping municipal services and infrastructure functioning. We ask the public to please do your part and keep wipes and products of all sorts out of the sewer system.

Moving forward, we will not be conducting on site inspections due to emergency measures in place to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Municipality is however, requesting that you please contact us for information regarding our new alternate inspection requirements.

Permit applications and applications for subdivision approval are still being accepted via email, mail, or the available drop off box located at the Municipal Office.

Permit and subdivision application forms are available here. If you have questions on what information should be included with your application, please feel free to contact us at:

Phone: 902-690-6152 - Building and Development Services voicemail. Please leave a detailed message, calls will be returned promptly during regular business hours.

Email: inspections@countyofkings.ca

All Fire Inspections have been postponed until further notice. If you want to report an immediate Life/Fire Safety matter please contact us.

Fire Line contact 902-690-6157

For any By-Law Enforcement matters please contact 902-690-6157

We appreciate your understanding and we will do our best to accommodate all customers on a case by case basis.

While Nova Scotia is under a declared state of emergency, the Municipality’s Water & Wastewater staff are not to enter homes while any other person(s) are inside (single unit or duplexes)

• Our staff are not healthcare experts so we don’t want to ask our team to try and determine who may or may not be sick or risk unnecessary exposure.

The planned work is to be discussed over the phone or email in advance, agree for residents to come out once staff arrive, and have our staff travel directly to the area of required work as agreed to with the resident.

Municipal staff shall discuss with the resident the need to maintain social distancing before arriving on site (via phone or email)

For Multi-unit (apartments), coordination is to be made with the landlord or superintendent to have an isolated travel path arranged for requiring entry into a building.

Our staff are not to travel together in the same vehicle to a site.

Staff members working together on site are deemed to be working as essential services and are expected to maintain social distancing when possible but not to deviate from Standard Operating Procedures to complete tasks safely together.

Increases in cleaning supplies (wipes, sanitizers, soaps) have been made available for pre and post work

After consultation with other Municipal units in the Kings Region, and the Province of Nova Scotia, the Municipality of the County of Kings wishes to advise the public all Municipally owned parks, playgrounds, beaches and trails in the Municipality of the County of Kings shall remain closed with the exception of the Harvest Moon Trail.

Harvest Moon Trail users are reminded of the following:

• Practice social distancing – use the Harvest Moon Trail alone or with members of your household.
• Access should be very localized. Trail users should walk, cycle, wheelchair, etc. to the trail. Parking at trail heads is prohibited until further notice.
• The Harvest Moon Trail runs through 4 municipalities in the Kings Region: The Municipality of the County of Kings and the Towns of Wolfville, Kentville, and Berwick. Trail users are encouraged to check the status of the trail with their local municipality before accessing the Harvest Moon Trail.
• All Nova Scotians have a moral and legal obligation to fully adhere to the advice of the Chief Medical Officer.

The Municipality urges residents and businesses to practice principles of self-isolation as much as possible and social-distancing always. The Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic is a severe public health event and appropriate precautions must be taken seriously by everyone to ensure continued health and safety of our communities.

Please note: Silver Lake is closed to the public until further notice and will not be stocked for the time being.

Grants (https://www.countyofkings.ca/grants)
Council has decided to extend the application deadline for programs closing April 1 to now close on June 1st, 2020.

Program Name	2020/21 Application Deadline
Park, Playground, and Trail Maintenance and Development (PPT M&D)	Apr-01 *EXTENDED TO JUNE 1, 2020
Youth Travel Assistance Program (YTAP)	Apr 01 *EXTENDED TO JUNE 1, 2020, July 01, Oct 01, & Jan 01
Community Recreation Programming Assistance (CRPA)	Feb-01 *EXTENDED TO Feb 14, 2020
Community Festivals and Special Events (CFSE)	Feb-01 *EXTENDED TO Feb 14, 2020
Councillor Grants to Organizations (CGTO)	Jun-01
Community Hall Assistance Program (CHAP)	Apr-01 *EXTENDED TO JUNE 1, 2020
Kings Vision Grant (VISION GRANTS)	Apr-01 *EXTENDED TO JUNE 1, 2020

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Amie Johnstone at your convenience at grants@countyofkings.ca