Utility bills for Port Moody homeowners are due Friday but Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam residents have an extra month to get their payments in order.
The cost for water, garbage, recycling and sewer is due March 31 in the latter two municipalities and those who don't shell out by the deadline will be fined 5% of the full amount.
Here's the breakdown for 2014 rates in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody:
COQUITLAM
Single-family home: $715 for water, garbage, recycling
Townhouse, condo: $436 for water, $452 for recycling (if applies)
PORT COQUITLAM
Single-family home: $733 for water, sewer
Townhouse: $687 for water, sewer
Condo: $652 for water, sewer
PORT MOODY
Single-family home: $964 for water, sewer, garbage, green waste, recycling
Townhouse: $879 for water, sewer, garbage, green waste, recycling
Condo: $687 for water, sewer, recycling (if applies)
Last year, 5,600 Coquitlam homeowners didn't pay their utility bill on time out of 41,400 invoices issued (unpaid utilities at the end of the year are transferred to the property bill). In PoCo, 769 utility accounts were not paid by the due date in 2013 while the number was 1,297 in PoMo.
Utility bills can be paid online. In Coquitlam and Port Moody, credit cards are accepted for utilities but not for municipal property taxes. And Port Coquitlam does not allow credit card payments for either.
Metro Vancouver regional authority, which oversees water and sewage, has a capital program estimated to total $2.3 billion over the next decade, meaning water and sewer charges are not likely to go down anytime soon. In fact, water alone is estimated to rise 8% annually in the next few years.
