First Session, 48th

General Assembly

65 Elizabeth II,

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

S.2 Amdt.

Definitions

S.74 R&S

Departments

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

S.102 R&S

Budget

S.103 Amdt.

Contents of budget

S.108 Amdt.

Financial statement

S.109 Amdt.

Appointment of auditor

S.123 Amdt.

Powers of expenditure

S.138 R&S

Minimum tax

S.143 R&S

Supplementary assessment

S.153 Amdt.

Employer's duty

S. 159 R&S

Collection as civil debt

S.160 Amdt.

Lien

S.162.1 Amdt.

Notice of arrears

S.162.4 R&S

Advertisement and notice

S.162.6 Amdt.

Further notice of sale

S.162.8 Amdt.

Tax payment from proceeds

S.162.11 R&S

Vesting of property

S.215 R&S

Fire department

S.276.1 Added

Adverse possession abolished

24. S.277 Amdt.

Business improvement areas

CITY

OF MOUNT PEARL

ACT

S.74 R&S

Departments

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

S.102 R&S

Budget

S.103 Amdt.

Contents of budget

S.108 Amdt.

Financial statement

S.109 Amdt.

Appointment of auditor

S.123 Amdt.

Powers of expenditure

S.137 R&S

Minimum tax

S.142 R&S

Supplementary assessment

S.159 Amdt.

Lien

S.161.1 Amdt.

Notice of arrears

S.161.4 Amdt.

Advertisement and notice

S.161.6 Amdt.

Further notice of sale

S.161.8 Amdt.

Tax payment from proceeds

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

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.

Section 74 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Departments

(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.

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.

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.

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

(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.

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.

Section 138 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Minimum tax

(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).

Section 143 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.

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 Subsection 153(1) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

Employer's duty

(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.

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

(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.

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.

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.

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

Section 74 of the City of Mount Pearl Act

is repealed and the following substituted:

Departments

(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.

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.

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.

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

(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.

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.

Section 137 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Minimum tax

(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).

Section 142 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.

37. Subsection 159(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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Queen's Printer