Article from Volume 10, Issue Number 1, 2023

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Benefits of CCI Membership - Money Saving Tips

By Duane Rohne | Other articles by Duane Rohne | Feature

In the Fall 2021 newsletter editions (Field Notes from a Condo Corpo Treasurer https://cci-manitoba.ca/cci-manitoba-magazine/article/18, page 12) Alan Forbes wrote about a Manitoba Hydro Rebate Program for eligible customers. It was discussed again in the Condo Conversation Corner feature of the Winter 2022 edition and included details on eligibility (Check your Manitoba Hydro Bill, page 20 https://cci-manitoba.ca/cci-manitoba-magazine/article/1). If you pay your own Hydro bill you are likely eligible for a reduction of taxes applied to your hydro account and rebate of taxes paid at the higher rate. Who doesn’t love rebates and lower taxes?

The reduction is from 2.5% on City Tax to .5% and a further reduction for the Provincial Tax from 7% to 1.4%. Doesn’t the idea of saving 7-8% on your Hydro bill sound like a great way to battle the inflation problem! Note that there is no reduction available for the Federal GST. 

When I bought my condo in late 2017, as a new client to the account, I paid the higher rate, not the lower rate. With this new information, I called Manitoba Hydro and made the application in late 2021. Within a few weeks I received a $290 credit to my Manitoba Hydro account and a reduction of the City and Provincial tax rate. I asked my neighbours and learned none of them had heard of the program until they read the CCI article. 

My Condominium Corporation’s newsletter then doubled down on the CCI article and featured a small follow up about the original CCI article. To date, about a dozen residents of my Condominium Corporation have received, in total, about $4000 in rebates from the program in addition to lower tax rates in the future. 

Periodically we all ask ourselves, how does my membership with CCI benefit me? In this case, several condominium residents in my building directly benefited from their CCI Manitoba membership and have a clear answer to that question, more precisely 4000 clear answers. Considering the cost of a CCI membership for a condo corporation of at least 50 units is less than $5 per unit, a CCI membership provides an incredible return on investment! 

Duane Rohne 
CCI MB Membership Committee