YORKTON — The City of Yorkton has finalized a new Landlord-Tenant Delinquency & Recovery Policy, creating a structured process for handling unpaid, tenant-held residential utility accounts. Following approval of the Waterworks Management Bylaw No. 4/2026, this policy introduces a 30-day intervention window for property owners before arrears can be transferred to property taxes.
Finalized following the April 20 council meeting, the policy applies strictly to residential service addresses where the utility account is held in the tenant's name. It aims to balance municipal cost recovery with fairness to property owners and the broader utility rate base.
Mayor Mitch Kienle emphasized that the policy addresses a long-standing financial gap for the city.
“If tenants became delinquent in their water payment, at some point if they decided to not pay and the amount of money that their deposit that was held by us, didn’t cover the full amount –– if that person doesn’t move back to Yorkton, we have no way, no mechanism to get that money,” Mayor Kienle said. “Year over year over year, the city of Yorkton is writing off that amount of bills –– essentially these tenants who aren’t paying for their bills, that money is being spread to all the tax payers for us to cover.”
Key features of the new policy include:
- staged recovery process: Procedures range from standard billing to overdue notices, final physical notices, and landlord notification.
- 30-day landlord intervention window: Landlords are notified of tenant arrears and provided with a 30-day window to intervene before debts are transferred to property taxes.
- Proactive safeguards: Proactive landlord status checks and double-recovery protections are implemented to protect property owners.
Mayor Kienle noted that the city wants to work in partnerships with landlords. He also clarified that “these delinquent bills are very few—approximately four or five per month — that would require these conversations.”
“The idea was that we need to not only make that the responsibility of the landlords … in the business to choose their tenant and deal with them and make sure that they pay but also we wanted to create better communication between the landlord and the city –– so for the policy that we looked at today, it will mean more communication between the landlord and the financial services here at the city of Yorkton," Mayor Kienle explained. "Also gives the ability to the landlord to contact the city of Yorkton to call the city of Yorkton to find out if [they] are caught up on all the water bills.”
The policy ensures that landlords are alerted to unpaid, tenant-held utility accounts, allowing them to manage potential liabilities before they escalate, rather than leaving local taxpayers with the burden.
“In the past, all the residents of Yorkton would pick up the bill,” Mayor Kienle stated.
