The city went back to the permissive tax exemption drawing board.
Staff have recommended another change to the process by which property taxes can be waived for certain organizations. Those changes were presented to city council's finance and audit committee on Tuesday afternoon.
Every year, non-profit groups, places of worship, private schools and municipal tenants can apply to have their property taxes waived if they meet criteria set out in the Community Charter.
New guidelines were added last year, including various percentages for how much each type of community group should be represented in the exemption list.
That provision is cut out of the latest edition of the permissive tax exemption policy, as well as last year's idea to put the work of deciding who gets the exemptions into the hands of an adjudication committee featuring members of the group that also decides on the social development grants.
"It's just one of those things that actually slowed down the process entirely too much," said finance director Kris Dalio.
"With the right policy and procedures in place, the adjudication process should be very natural and easy after that."
Staff have also recommended that once a group is approved for an exemption, it lasts the duration of city council's term, provided there are no changes in their status.
During Tuesday's meeting, the city's finance and audit committee also signed off on a piece of this year's budget consultation.
For the third year, the city has contracted the research company Mustel Group to conduct a telephone survey about city priorities.
Last year, 400 residents were polled between July 2 and 5.
Any decisions made by the committee still have to be approved by city council.
