58

 

 

First Session, 48th General Assembly

65 Elizabeth II, 2016

BILL 58

AN ACT TO AMEND THE CITY OF CORNER BROOK ACT, THE CITY OF MOUNT PEARL ACT AND THE CITY OF ST. JOHN'S ACT

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

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

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

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

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

HONOURABLE EDDIE JOYCE

Minister of Municipal Affairs

Ordered to be printed by the Honourable House of Assembly

 

EXPLANATORY NOTES

This Bill would amend the City of Corner Brook Act, the City of Mount Pearl Act and the City of St. John's Act to address operational and administrative matters respecting the law governing these cities.

The Bill would amend the City of Corner Brook Act and the City of Mount Pearl Act to

·         remove the requirement for specific departments and heads of those departments;

·         provide that expenditures in a budget shall not exceed revenues;

·         remove the requirement to obtain approval from the minister in order to establish a capital reserve;

·         require annual financial statements to be consistent with the standards of the Public Sector Accounting Board;

·         remove the requirement for notice to be given to the minister with respect to the appointment of an auditor;

·         allow the council to provide a grant for charitable or philanthropic causes;

·         allow the city to impose separate minimum real property tax on vacant land and on land upon which there is no building used for residential purposes that exceeds the area established by regulation;

·         make the Acts consistent with the Assessment Act, 2006 with respect to supplementary assessments of real property;

·         include interest owing on outstanding taxes on statutory liens; and

·         provide that the city 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.

The Bill would also amend the City of Corner Brook Act to

·         make the definition of the term "real property" consistent with the Assessment Act, 2006;

·         allow the city greater authority in recovering tax arrears;

·         allow the city to be reimbursed for the reasonable costs of collecting on outstanding taxes and interest;

·         protect land owned by the city from claims of adverse possession; and

·         remove the requirement to obtain the authorization of the minister to respond to emergencies.

The Bill would amend the City of St. John's Act by repealing the provision that requires the costs of rebuilding, reconstruction and paving of Water Street to be shared equally between the city and the owners of all property on Water Street.

A BILL

AN ACT TO AMEND THE CITY OF CORNER BROOK ACT,
THE CITY OF MOUNT PEARL ACT AND
THE CITY OF ST. JOHN'S ACT

Analysis


              CITY OF CORNER BROOK ACT

        1.   S.2 Amdt.
Definitions

        2.   S.74 R&S
Departments

        3.   S.75 Rep.
Responsibility

        4.   Ss.77 to 81 Rep.
77.   City engineer
78.   Treasurer
79.   City planner
80.   Director of recreation
81.   Fire chief

        5.   S.98 Amdt.
Bank account

        6.   S.99 R&S
Mechanical signatures

        7.   S.102 R&S
Budget

        8.   S.103 Amdt.
Contents of budget

        9.   S.108 Amdt.
Financial statement

      10.   S.109 Amdt.
Appointment of auditor

      11.   S.123 Amdt.
Powers of expenditure

      12.   S.138 R&S
Minimum tax

      13.   S.143 R&S
Supplementary assessment

      14.   S.153 Amdt.
Employer's duty

      15.   S. 159 R&S
Collection as civil debt

      16.   S.160 Amdt.
Lien

      17.   S.162.1 Amdt.
Notice of arrears

      18.   S.162.4 R&S
Advertisement and notice

      19.   S.162.6 Amdt.
Further notice of sale

      20.   S.162.8 Amdt.
Tax payment from proceeds

      21.   S.162.11 R&S
Vesting of property

      22.   S.215 R&S
Fire department

      23.   S.276.1 Added
Adverse possession abolished

      24.   S.277 Amdt.
Business improvement areas

              CITY OF MOUNT PEARL ACT

      25.   S.74 R&S
Departments

      26.   S.75 Rep.
Responsibility

      27.   Ss.77 to 80 Rep.
77.   City engineer
78.   Treasurer
79.   City planner
80.   Director of recreation

      28.   S.98 Amdt.
Bank account

      29.   S.99 R&S
Mechanical signatures

      30.   S.102 R&S
Budget

      31.   S.103 Amdt.
Contents of budget

      32.   S.108 Amdt.
Financial statement

      33.   S.109 Amdt.
Appointment of auditor

      34.   S.123 Amdt.
Powers of expenditure

      35.   S.137 R&S
Minimum tax

      36.   S.142 R&S
Supplementary assessment

      37.   S.159 Amdt.
Lien

      38.   S.161.1 Amdt.
Notice of arrears

      39.   S.161.4 Amdt.
Advertisement and notice

      40.   S.161.6 Amdt.
Further notice of sale

      41.   S.161.8 Amdt.
Tax payment from proceeds

      42.   S.161.11 R&S
Vesting of property

      43.   S.277 Amdt.
Business improvement areas

              CITY OF ST. JOHN'S ACT

      44.   S.146 Rep.
Water Street
reconstruction

      45.   Commencement


Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

City of Corner Brook Act

RSNL1990 cC-15
as amended

        1. Paragraph 2(h) of the City of Corner Brook Act is repealed and the following substituted:

             (h)  "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)  where a building is erected on land under a lease, licence or permit, that building may, for the purpose of this Act, be treated as real property separate from the land, and

                    (iv)  a mobile home.

 

        2. Section 74 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Departments

      74. (1) The 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)  Where there is a city manager, the council shall seek his or her recommendation before establishing a department or appointing a department head.

             (3)  The council may appoint one person to head 2 or more departments established under paragraph (1)(a).

             (4)  The department heads are responsible to the city manager, or, to the council, where there is no city manager.

 

        3. Section 75 of the Act is repealed.

 

        4. Sections 77 to 81 of the Act are repealed.

 

        5. Subsection 98(2) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

             (2)  All cheques or orders withdrawing money from the bank account of the council shall be signed by a person designated for that purpose by the council, and countersigned by the city manager or the city clerk or the designated department head.

 

        6. Section 99 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Mechanical signatures

      99. The city manager, the city clerk and the designated department head may impress their signatures by machinery on cheques and cheques that have been so impressed are good and valid to all intents as if the cheques had been signed in the proper handwriting of the city manager, the city clerk or the designated department head.

 

        7. Section 102 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Budget

   102. In a budget proposed expenditures shall not exceed anticipated revenues.

 

        8. (1) Subsection 103(2) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

             (2)  Expenditures shall not be provided in a budget for capital reserves except where the council has considered it necessary to set aside in the financial statements a reserve from the accumulated surplus, investments of funds for specific purposes of a capital nature.

             (2)  Subsection 103(5) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

             (5)  Notwithstanding subsection (2), the city may provide for an expenditure in its budget for a capital reserve where the city considers it necessary to establish a capital reserve for a specific capital project and that reserve shall appear in its audited financial statement.

 

        9. Subsections 108(1) and (2) of the Act are repealed and the following substituted:

Financial statement

   108. (1) The council shall prepare and adopt, within 5 months of the end of each financial year, a financial statement in a manner consistent with generally accepted accounting principles established periodically by the Public Sector Accounting Board.

             (2)  The mayor and the designated department head shall sign the financial statement and shall attach a report that an auditor has made with respect to the financial statement.

 

      10. Subsection 109(3) of the Act is repealed.

 

      11. Section 123 of the Act is amended by renumbering it as subsection 123(1) and adding immediately after that subsection the following:

             (2)  The 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.

 

      12. Section 138 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Minimum tax

   138. (1) The council may, by resolution, establish different minimum annual real property taxes in the city 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 city.

             (2)  The council may make regulations respecting the square meterage of a non-residential structure for the purpose of paragraph (1)(d).

 

      13. Section 143 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Supplementary assessment

   143. (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.

 

      14. Subsection 153(1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Employer's duty

   153. (1) An employer in the city shall, on demand of the council, deliver to the council within 2 weeks of the demand the names and addresses of its employees and the dates on which their employment began.

 

      15. Section 159 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Collection as civil debt

   159. 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.

 

      16. Subsection 160(1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Lien

   160. (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.

 

      17. Subsection 162.1(1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Notice of arrears

162.1 (1) Where taxes on real property owed under this Part are in arrears, the city clerk shall serve upon the owner, mortgagee, judgment creditor, lienholder or other person having a charge or encumbrance upon or against the real property to which the taxes apply a notice signed by the city clerk which shall contain

             (a)  a general description of the real property affected;

             (b)  the amount of arrears of taxes owing in respect of the real property, the year in which the arrears of taxes were imposed and the person in whose name the real property was then assessed; and

             (c)  a statement that the real property is liable to be sold under this Act for the arrears, with interest and the expenses of and incidental to the arrears unless they are paid within 60 days from the date of the notice.

 

      18. Section 162.4 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Advertisement and notice

162.4 (1) The city clerk shall immediately upon receipt of a copy of the resolution referred to in section 162.3

             (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 city and publishing in a daily or weekly newspaper in circulation in the city 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 city clerk.

 

      19. Subsection 162.6(2) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

             (2)  The city clerk shall give notice to a person entitled to notice under paragraph 162.4(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 city, 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.

 

      20. Subsection 162.8(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 city shall

             (a)  where the balance is less than $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 into the Trial Division.

             (3)  Where paragraph (2)(b) applies, the city shall immediately provide written notice to a person entitled to notice under paragraph 162.4(1)(b), in the manner set out in subsection 162.4(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 city shall pay the balance into the Trial Division.

             (5)  Payment of the balance into the Trial Division 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.

 

      21. Section 162.11 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Vesting of property

162.11          The conveyance referred to in section 162.10 shall be conclusive evidence that the provisions of this Act with reference to the sale of the real property described in that conveyance have been fully complied with, and everything necessary for the legal perfection of that sale has been performed, and shall have the effect of vesting the real property in the purchaser, his or her executors, administrators or assigns absolutely free from encumbrances except a claim of the Crown and an easement.

 

      22. Section 215 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Fire department

   215. The council may establish, operate and maintain a fire department composed entirely or partly of volunteer members or of paid employees, and acquire or provide a fire hall, fire alarm system, fire engines, hydrants and other apparatus and appliances for the purpose of fire fighting, fire prevention and responding to and providing emergency services for other emergencies that may be authorized by the council, either inside or outside the city's boundaries.

 

      23. The Act is amended by adding immediately after section 276 the following:

Adverse possession abolished

276.1 Notwithstanding a law or practice to the contrary, no period of possession of lands that are owned by the city counts for the purpose of conferring upon a person an interest in the lands so possessed.

 

      24. Subparagraph 277(9)(c)(iv) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

                    (iv)  be paid out by the designated department head on requisition by a board for its annual operating budget, and

CITY OF MOUNT PEARL ACT

RSNL1990 cC-16
as amended

      25. Section 74 of the City of Mount Pearl Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Departments

      74. (1) The 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)  Where there is a city manager, the council shall seek his or her recommendation before establishing a department or appointing a department head.

             (3)  The council may appoint one person to head 2 or more departments established under paragraph (1)(a).

             (4)  The department heads are responsible to the city manager, or, to the council, where there is no city manager.

 

      26. Section 75 of the Act is repealed.

 

      27. Sections 77 to 80 of the Act are repealed.

 

      28. Subsection 98(2) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

             (2)  All cheques or orders withdrawing money from the bank account of the council shall be signed by a person designated for that purpose by the council, and countersigned by the city manager or the city clerk or the designated department head.

 

      29. Section 99 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Mechanical signatures

      99. The city manager, the city clerk and the designated department head may impress their signatures by machinery on cheques and cheques that have been so impressed are good and valid to all intents as if the cheques had been signed in the proper handwriting of the city manager, the city clerk or the designated department head.

 

      30. Section 102 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Budget

   102. In a budget proposed expenditures shall not exceed anticipated revenues.

 

      31. Subsection 103(5) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

             (5)  Notwithstanding subsection (2), the city may provide for an expenditure in its budget for a capital reserve where the city considers it necessary to establish a capital reserve for a specific capital project and that reserve shall appear in its audited financial statement.

 

      32. Subsections 108(1) and (2) of the Act are repealed and the following substituted:

Financial statement

   108. (1) The council shall prepare and adopt, within 5 months of the end of each financial year, a financial statement in a manner consistent with generally accepted accounting principles established periodically by the Public Sector Accounting Board.

             (2)  The mayor and the designated department head shall sign the financial statement and shall attach a report that an auditor has made with respect to the financial statement.

 

      33. Subsection 109(3) of the Act is repealed.

 

      34. Section 123 of the Act is amended by renumbering it as subsection 123(1) and adding immediately after that subsection the following:

             (2)  The 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.

 

      35. Section 137 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Minimum tax

   137. (1) The council may, by resolution, establish different minimum annual real property taxes in the city 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 city.

             (2)  The council may make regulations respecting the square meterage of a non-residential structure for the purpose of paragraph (1)(d).

 

      36. Section 142 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Supplementary assessment

   142. (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.

 

      37. Subsection 159(1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Lien

   159. (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.

 

      38. Subsection 161.1(1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Notice of arrears

161.1 (1) Where taxes on real property owed under this Part are in arrears, the city clerk shall serve upon the owner, mortgagee, judgment creditor, lienholder or other person having a charge or encumbrance upon or against the real property to which the taxes apply a notice signed by the city clerk which shall contain

             (a)  a general description of the real property affected;

             (b)  the amount of arrears of taxes owing in respect of the real property, the year in which the arrears of taxes were imposed and the person in whose name the real property was then assessed; and

             (c)  a statement that the real property is liable to be sold under this Act for the arrears, with interest and the expenses of and incidental to the arrears unless they are paid within 60 days from the date of the notice.

 

      39. Section 161.4 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Advertisement and notice

161.4 (1) The city clerk shall immediately upon receipt of a copy of the resolution referred to in section 161.3

             (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 city and publishing in a daily or weekly newspaper in circulation in the city 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 city clerk.

 

      40. Subsection 161.6(2) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

             (2)  The city clerk shall give notice to a person entitled to notice under paragraph 161.4(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 city, 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.

 

      41. Subsection 161.8(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 city shall

             (a)  where the balance is less than $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 into the Trial Division.

             (3)  Where paragraph (2)(b) applies, the city shall immediately provide written notice to a person entitled to notice under paragraph 161.4(1)(b), in the manner set out in subsection 161.4(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 city shall pay the balance into the Trial Division.

             (5)  Payment of the balance into the Trial Division 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.

 

      42. Section 161.11 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Vesting of property

161.11          The conveyance referred to in section 161.10 shall be conclusive evidence that the provisions of this Act with reference to the sale of the real property described in that conveyance have been fully complied with, and everything necessary for the legal perfection of that sale has been performed, and shall have the effect of vesting the real property in the purchaser, his or her executors, administrators or assigns absolutely free from encumbrances except a claim of the Crown and an easement.

 

      43. Subparagraph 277(9)(c)(iv) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

                    (iv)  be paid out by the designated department head on requisition by a board for its annual operating budget, and

CITY OF ST. JOHN'S ACT

RSNL1990 cC-17
as amended

      44. Section 146 of the City of St. John's Act is repealed.

Commencement

      45. Sections 1 to 43 of this Act come into force on January 1, 2017.