Fourth Session, 46th General Assembly

Elizabeth II, 2011

BILL 7

AN ACT TO AMEND THE

MUNICIPALITIES ACT, 1999

Received and Read the First Time ...................................................................................................

Second Reading .................................................................................................................................

Committee ............................................................................................................................................

Third Reading .....................................................................................................................................

Royal Assent ......................................................................................................................................

HONOURABLE

KEVIN O'BRIEN

Minister of Municipal Affairs

Ordered

to be printed by the Honourable House of Assembly

EXPLANATORY NOTES

This Bill would amend the Municipalities Act, 1999 to address operational

and administrative matters respecting the law governing municipalities and

local service districts.

The Bill would

allow municipalities to provide

a pension plan and group benefits plan to councillors;

allow a council to provide a

grant for charitable or philanthropic causes;

provide that a municipality

could, after providing proper notice to mortgagees, judgment creditors and

lienholders, convey property free from encumbrances, other than easements and

claims of the Crown, when selling property for failure to pay taxes;

protect land owned by

municipalities from claims of adverse possession; and

allow municipalities to impose

separate minimum real property tax on vacant land and on land upon which there

is no building that is used for residential purposes that exceeds the area

established by regulation.

A BILL

AN ACT TO AMEND THE MUNICIPALITIES

ACT, 1999

Analysis

1. S.2

Amdt.

Interpretation

2. S.63

Amdt.

Departments

S.64 Rep.

Department heads

S.72 R&S

Pension scheme

S.73 R&S

Group insurance

S.78 R&S

Budget

S.79 Amdt.

Contents of budget

S.86 Amdt.

Financial statements

S.87 Amdt.

Appointment of auditor

S.91 Amdt.

Auditor's report

S.94 Amdt.

Long term borrowing

S.97 Amdt.

Certificate

S.99 Amdt.

Powers of expenditure

S.114 R&S

Minimum tax

S.119 R&S

Supplementary assessment

S.129 Amdt.

Direct sellers tax

S.133 R&S

Collection as a civil debt

18. S.134

Amdt.

Lien

19. S.137

Amdt.

Notice of arrears

S.140 R&S

Notice

S.142 Amdt.

Further notice of sale

S.144 Amdt.

Tax payment from proceeds

S.147 Amdt.

Vesting of property

S.162 Amdt.

Compensation for injurious affection

S.168 Amdt.

Removal of projections

S.183 Amdt.

Fire department

S.197 Amdt.

Signs

S.198 Amdt.

Sales from vehicles and stands

29. S.201.1 Added

Sale of

property

30. S.201.2 Added

Adverse possession abolished

S.249 R&S

Ministerial direction

S.395 Amdt.

Fire protection

S.414 Amdt.

Council regulations

Commencement

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and

House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

SNL1999 cM-24

as amended

1. (1) Paragraph 2(1)(

s) of the Municipalities Act, 1999 is repealed and

the following substituted:

(s) "real property" means

(

i) land or an interest arising from land, and includes

land under water,

(ii) land and buildings, structures, improvements,

building service systems and storage facilities and fixtures erected or placed

upon, in, over or under land or affixed to land,

(iii) a building that is erected on land under a

lease, licence or permit, but does not include the land upon which the building

is erected, and

(iv) a mobile home;

(2) Subection 2(1) of the Act is amended by adding

immediately after paragraph (u.1) the following:

(u.2) "remuneration" includes contributions

by a municipality to a pension plan for councillors;

2. (1) Subsection 63(1) of the Act is repealed

and the following substituted:

Departments

(1) A

council may

(

a) establish departments;

(

b) appoint for those departments the department heads

that are necessary for the effective operation of the council; and

(

c) set out the roles and responsibilities of

those department heads.

(2) Subsection 63(3) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

(3) The council may appoint one person to head 2

or more departments established under paragraph (1)(a).

Section 64 of the Act is repealed.

Section 72 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Pension scheme

(1) A

council may provide a pension scheme for councillors, full-time employees,

regular part-time employees, or a class of those employees, who have worked for

a stated period and discontinued their employment or, in the case of a

councillor, his or her tenure as a councillor, or have suffered permanent disability

before reaching retirement age.

(2) A pension scheme provided under subsection

(1) shall be a defined contribution plan as defined in the Pension Benefits Act , 1997

unless the minister approves an alternative type of plan.

(3) A person who, before becoming a councillor or an

of a province, a municipality in Canada or of a corporation or institution

having a pension plan may have credited to him or her with respect to his or

her tenure as a councillor or council employment the whole or part of the

pensionable service credited to him or her by that tenure as a councillor or employment.

(4) Notwithstanding subsection (3), a council may

make an agreement with a body described in that subsection providing for the

crediting, on a reciprocal basis, of the whole or part of the pensionable

service served by the councillor or employee with that body, as pensionable service

with the municipality.

(5) A pension scheme entered into under subsection

(1) shall be based upon a plan of contributions by the council and its

councillors or the council and its employees.

Section 73 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Group insurance

(1) A

council may arrange to provide a group insurance scheme for its councillors, employees

or a class of employees, and for volunteer members of its fire department and

for that purpose may enter into arrangements which the council may determine

with insurance or other companies or with the Crown.

(2) A group insurance scheme entered into under

subsection (1) shall be based on a plan of contributions by the council and its

councillors or the council and its employees, except for volunteer members of

its fire department, where all contributions shall be paid by the council.

Section 78 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Budget

78. In

a budget proposed expenditures shall not exceed anticipated revenues.

7. (1) Subsection 79(2) of the Act is amended

by deleting the words "subject to the approval of the minister" and

the commas immediately before and after the words.

(2) Subsection 79(3) of the Act is amended by deleting

the words "with the prior written approval of the minister" and the

commas immediately before and after the words.

8. Subsection 86(1) of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Financial

statements

(1) A

council shall prepare and adopt, before June 1 of each year, financial

statements in a manner consistent with generally accepted accounting principles

established periodically by the Public Sector Accounting Board of the Canadian

Institute of Chartered Accountants.

9. Subsection 87(3) of the Act is repealed.

Section 91 of the Act is amended by adding

immediately after paragraph (

c) the following:

(c.1) the extent of insurance carried with respect

to all municipal property;

11. Subsection 94(1) of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Long term borrowing

(1) Subject

to the prior written approval of the minister, a council may

(

a) borrow money for capital purposes and issue

securities for the repayment of money borrowed; and

(

b) enter into a financing agreement as lessee with

respect to the lease of personal or real property where the lease is for a term

of 3 years or more.

Section 97 of the Act is amended by deleting

the words "and Provincial" wherever they occur.

(1) Section 99 of the Act is amended by

adding immediately after subsection (1) the following:

(1.1) A council may, out of the funds at its

disposal, and by a 2/3 vote of councillors in office, provide a grant for

charitable or philanthropic causes that it considers appropriate but grants may

not be provided to political parties or candidates in municipal, provincial or federal

elections.

(2) Subsection 99(2) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

(2) Expenditures made under subsections (1) and

(1.1) shall not exceed the total approved budget or revised budget of the council and

shall be supported by appropriate documentation.

Section 114 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Minimum tax

114. A

council may, by resolution, establish different minimum annual real property

taxes in a municipality for

(

a) residential property;

(

b) commercial property;

(

c) vacant land; and

(

d) land that has upon it a structure which

(

i) is not used for residential purposes, and

(ii) does not exceed the square meterage area prescribed

by the municipality.

Section 119 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Supplementary

assessment

(1) The

owner of real property that has been made subject to a supplementary assessment

under paragraph 24(1)(

a) of the Assessment

Act, 2006 is liable for the payment of the real property tax on the basis

of the supplementary assessment for the remaining portion of the calendar year

from the earlier of the date of substantial completion or the date of occupancy

of the real property.

(2) The owner of real property that has been made

subject to a supplementary assessment under paragraphs 24(1)(

b) to (

f) of the Assessment Act, 2006 is liable for the

payment of the real property tax on the basis of the supplementary assessment

for the remaining portion of the calendar year from the date of the event that

gave rise to that supplementary assessment.

(3) Where real property has been made subject to

an original or supplementary assessment under the Assessment Act, 2006 and an appeal is taken under that Act against

the assessment, the real property tax is, notwithstanding an appeal, payable on

the basis of that assessment.

(4) The difference between the amount of the tax

collected under subsection (3) and the amount payable on the basis of the assessment

as later determined on the appeal under the Assessment

Act, 2006 shall be paid by the owner or refunded by the council, according

to the decision in the appeal.

16. Subsection 129(5) of the Act is amended by deleting

the reference to the " Direct Sellers

Act " and substituting a reference to the " Consumer Protection and Business Practices Act ".

Section 133 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Collection as a

civil debt

133. All

taxes imposed under this Part, together with interest owing on those taxes and

reasonable costs of collection for those taxes may, in addition to all other lawful

methods of civil debt collection, be sued for and collected by an action in the

name of the council as a civil debt due to the council.

18. Subsection 134(1) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

Lien

(1) Taxes

fixed, established and imposed in respect of real property, including the real

property tax, business tax, where the owner of the business is also the owner

of the real property occupied by that business, and water and sewage tax, where

the water and sewage system services the real property owned by the person who

is taxed for that service, together with interest owing on those taxes,

constitute a lien upon that real property except where the real property is

sold for tax arrears by the council.

19. Subsection 137(1) of the Act is amended by deleting

the words "owner and encumbrancers of" and substituting the words and

commas "owner, mortgagee, judgment creditor, lienholder or other person

having a charge or encumbrance upon or against".

Section 140 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Notice

(1) The

clerk shall immediately upon receipt of a copy of the resolution referred to in

section 139

(

a) advertise the real property referred to in the

resolution for sale by public auction at a time and place that shall be stated

in the advertisement; and

(

b) provide written notice of the sale of that

property to a mortgagee, judgment creditor, lienholder or other person having a

charge or encumbrance upon or against the real property.

(2) Advertisement under paragraph (1)(

a) shall be effected

by posting the advertisement in not fewer than 2 conspicuous places in the

municipality and publishing in a daily or weekly newspaper in circulation in

the municipality by one insertion each week, where there is such a newspaper,

at least 30 days immediately before the sale.

(3) Notice under paragraph (1)(

b) shall be

provided through personal service or by mailing

a copy of the notice to the last known address of the person and obtaining a

signed document acknowledging receipt at least 30 days immediately

before the sale.

(4) It is sufficient in the notice and the advertisement to put the street and number of the

real property, or to put another short reference by which the real property may

be identified, together with a statement that a full description may be seen at

the office of the clerk.

21. Subsection 142(2) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

(2) The clerk shall give notice to a person

entitled to notice under paragraph 140(1)(

b) through personal service or by

mailing a copy of the notice to the last

known address of the person and obtaining a signed document acknowledging

receipt and shall advertise in the paper in which the sale was

originally advertised, or where not then in circulation, in another newspaper

circulating in the municipality, if there is one, of the time and place to

which the sale is adjourned and he or she shall again put up the real property

at public auction and may sell the real property for a sum that can be realized.

22. Subsection 144(2) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

(2) Where there is a balance remaining after

making the deductions under subsection (1), the municipality shall

(

a) where the balance is less that $200, pay the

balance to the former property owner; or

(

b) where the balance is $200 or more, pay the

balance to the former property owner unless an application is made to the Trial

Division within 90 days of the auction by a person claiming entitlement to the

balance and if an application is made, pay the balance to the Registrar of the

Supreme Court.

(3) Where paragraph 2(

b) applies, the municipality

shall immediately provide written notice to a person entitled to notice under

paragraph 140(1)(b), in the manner set out in subsection 140(3), of the amount of the balance and the

requirement to apply to the Trial Division within 90 days of the auction to

claim entitlement to the balance or a portion of the balance.

(4) Where the former owner of the real property is

unknown or cannot be located and there is a balance remaining after making the

deductions under subsection (1), the municipality shall pay the balance to the Registrar

of the Supreme Court.

(5) Payment of the balance to the Registrar of the

Supreme Court under subsection (2) or (4) shall have the same effect as payment

to the owner, and a judge of the Trial Division, on the application of an interested person, may order the

payment out of court of the balance or a portion of the balance to the person

entitled to it.

Section 147 of the Act is amended by deleting

the words "of the municipality" and substituting the words

"except a claim of the Crown and an easement".

Section 162 of the Act is amended by deleting

the words "this Act" and substituting the words "the Urban and Rural Planning Act, 2000 ".

25. Subsection 168(3) of the Act is amended by deleting

the words "this Act" and substituting the words "the Urban and Rural Planning Act, 2000 ".

Section 183 of the Act is amended by deleting

the word "minister" and substituting the word "council".

Section 197 of the Act is amended by adding the

word "written" immediately before the word "permit".

Section 198 of the Act is amended by adding the

word "written" immediately before the word "permit".

29. The Act is amended by adding immediately after

section 201 the following:

Sale of property

201.1 A

council may, by resolution, sell real and personal property where

(

a) the item or lot has a probable market value of

more than $500, by public tender or public auction advertised in not fewer that

2 conspicuous places in the municipality and published in a newspaper having

general circulation in the municipality, where there is one; and

(

b) the item or lot has a probable market value of

less that $500, or where a public tender or public auction under paragraph (

a) did not produce a purchaser, by private sale.

30. The Act is amended by adding immediately after

section 201.1 the following:

Adverse

possession abolished

201.2 Notwithstanding

a law or practice to the contrary, no period of possession of lands that are owned

by a municipality counts for the purpose of conferring upon a person an

interest in the lands so possessed.

31. The Act is amended by repealing

section 249 and

substituting the following:

Ministerial

direction

249. Where

the comptroller recommends to the minister, the minister may direct in writing

that the council issue a cheque to meet those payments that the minister lists

in the direction.

32. Paragraph 395(

b) of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

(

b) construct, acquire, establish, own and operate

a fire hall, fire engines and other apparatus necessary for fire fighting, fire

protection and responding to and providing services for other emergencies that may

be authorized by the local service district committee, either inside or outside

the local service district.

33. Subsection 414(2) of the Act is amended by

adding immediately after paragraph (tt) the following:

(tt.1) respecting the square meterage area of a

non-residential structure for the purpose of paragraph 114(d);

Commencement

34. Sections 10, 20 to 23 and 27 to 29 come into

force on a day or days to be proclaimed by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council.

William E.

Parsons, Queen's Printer