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O. Reg. 323/12: LOCAL IMPROVEMENT CHARGES - PRIORITY LIEN STATUS


Published: 2012-10-25

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ONTARIO REGULATION 323/12

made under the

CITY OF TORONTO ACT, 2006

Made: October 23, 2012
Filed: October 25, 2012
Published on e-Laws: October 26, 2012
Printed in The Ontario Gazette: November 10, 2012


Amending O. Reg. 596/06

(LOCAL IMPROVEMENT CHARGES — PRIORITY LIEN STATUS)

Note: Ontario Regulation 596/06 has not previously been amended.

1. Ontario Regulation 596/06 is amended by adding the following heading before section 1:

PART I
GENERAL

2. (1) Subsection 1 (1) of the Regulation is amended by adding the following definitions:

“private” means, with respect to a work or property, a work or property that is not owned by the City or a local board of the City;

. . . . .

“sufficient agreement” means an agreement determined to be sufficient under section 35.4;

(2) Clause 1 (2) (b) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “or distribution of water” and substituting “distribution or conservation of water”.

(3) Subsection 1 (2) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “and” at the end of clause (o), by adding “and” at the end of clause (p) and by adding the following clause:

(q) constructing energy efficiency works or renewable energy works.

(4) Section 1 of the Regulation is amended by adding the following subsection:

(3) If the City undertakes a work as a local improvement, a special charge imposed with respect to the work in accordance with this Regulation has priority lien status as described in section 3 of the Act.

3. Section 2 of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:

Scope of local improvement

2. (1) If the City has the authority to undertake a work, including a private work, under section 7 or 8 of the Act or under any other provision of any Act, the City may undertake the work as a local improvement in accordance with this Regulation.

(2) The power to undertake a work as a local improvement includes, without limitation, the power to,

(a) undertake the work as a local improvement, including undertaking the work on private property;

(b) acquire an existing work and where it does, this Regulation applies as if the City were undertaking the work so acquired;

(c) undertake a work as a local improvement for the benefit of a single lot; and

(d) raise the cost of undertaking a work as a local improvement by imposing special charges, including special charges on a single lot.

(3) Where the City undertakes a private work as a local improvement, this Regulation applies to undertaking the private work as a local improvement as if the City were undertaking its own work.

(4) Nothing in this Regulation authorizes the City to enter and undertake a work as a local improvement on private property without the permission of the owner or other person having the authority to grant such permission.

4. Subsection 4 (2) of the Regulation is amended by striking out the portion before clause (a) and substituting the following:

(2) A notice to an owner under this Regulation is sufficiently given if it is,

5. The Regulation is amended by adding the following heading before section 5:

PART II
IMPOSITION AND APPORTIONMENT OF THE COSTS OF LOCAL IMPROVEMENTS ON THE BASIS OF FRONTAGE

6. Paragraph 2 of subsection 12 (2) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:

2. Reasonable administrative costs, including the cost of advertising and of giving notices.

7. The Regulation is amended by adding the following Part:

PART III
LOCAL IMPROVEMENTS ON PRIVATE PROPERTY BY AGREEMENT

Purpose, Sufficient Agreements and By-laws

Local improvements, private property

35.1 In accordance with this Part, the City may raise the cost of undertaking works as local improvements on private property by imposing special charges on the lots of consenting property owners upon which all or part of the works are or will be located.

Local improvements by agreement

35.2 (1) This Part applies to the City undertaking work as a local improvement on private property if,

(a) the City and the owners of the lots which would be specially charged to raise all or any portion of the cost of the work enter into a sufficient agreement in which the owners consent to their lots being specially charged; and

(b) the City is not undertaking the work in accordance with Part II.

(2) An agreement described in subsection (1) may provide for the apportionment of the cost of the work among the specially charged lots on any basis that the City considers appropriate, but the method of apportionment must be authorized under Part IX of the Act.

(3) Despite subsection (2), the method of apportionment provided for in an agreement described in subsection (1) shall not result in special charges that are based on, are in respect of or are computed by reference to the assessment of the specially charged lots as shown on the assessment roll for any year under the Assessment Act.

(4) An agreement described in subsection (1) shall be signed by the City and the owners of all the lots which would be specially charged, if the City undertakes the work as a local improvement in accordance with this Part.

(5) The agreement signed by the City and the owners of all the lots which would be specially charged must include,

(a) the estimated cost of the work;

(b) the estimated lifetime of the work;

(c) a description of the apportionment method and the amount of the special charges for the lots to be specially charged;

(d) without limiting clause (c), the manner in which a cost over run or under run is to be dealt with, if the actual cost of work differs from the estimated cost of the work; and

(e) when the special charges for the lots are to be paid.

Cost of a work

35.3 The following may be included in the cost of a work under this Part:

1. Engineering expenses.

2. Reasonable administrative costs, including the cost of advertising and of giving notices.

3. Interest on short and long-term borrowing.

4. Compensation for lands taken for the purposes of the work or injuriously affected by it and the expenses incurred by the City in connection with determining the compensation.

5. The estimated cost of incurring long-term debt, including any discount allowed to the purchasers of the debt.

Sufficient agreement

35.4 (1) An agreement described in section 35.2 is sufficient if it meets the requirements of section 35.2 and of this section.

(2) The city clerk shall determine the sufficiency of an agreement and, where it is sufficient, the clerk shall certify the agreement.

(3) The city clerk’s certification of the agreement as sufficient is final and binding.

(4) A person who has signed an agreement may withdraw his or her name from the agreement by filing a written withdrawal with the city clerk, before the clerk has certified the sufficiency of the agreement but the person cannot withdraw his or her name from the agreement after the city clerk has certified the sufficiency of the agreement.

(5) In determining the sufficiency of an agreement, where a lot is owned by two or more persons, the owner of the lot is deemed not to have signed the agreement unless all of the owners of the lot have signed the agreement.

Local improvement charges by-law

35.5 (1) If the City has the authority to undertake a work, it may, in accordance with this Part, pass a by-law to undertake the work as a local improvement for the purpose of raising all or any part of the cost of the work by imposing special charges on lots upon which all or some part of the local improvement is or will be located.

(2) A by-law under subsection (1) may be a by-law to authorize the undertaking of a specific work for which the City has given notice under clause 35.6 (2) (a) or a by-law to authorize the undertaking of works which satisfy the requirements of a City program for which the City has given notice under clause 35.6 (2) (b).

Notice of local improvement charges by-law

35.6 (1) Before passing a by-law to undertake a work as a local improvement under section 35.5, the City shall give notice to the public of its intention to pass the by-law.

(2) The public notice of the intention to pass the by-law shall include,

(a) a description of a specific work the City intends to undertake; or

(b) a description of a program that the City has or intends to establish to undertake the types of works set out in the notice.

Clarification

35.7 The City may undertake a work as a local improvement under this Part in accordance with a sufficient agreement despite receiving a petition under subsection 7 (1) against undertaking the work as a local improvement under Part II within the previous two years.

Application of ss. 31-35

35.8 Sections 31 to 35 apply, with necessary modifications, for the purpose of the City undertaking a work as a local improvement under this Part.

Non-application of exemption

35.9 If an Act, regulation or by-law provides that special charges under this Regulation are not required to be paid with respect to a lot, despite the exemption, the lot is subject to this Part for all purposes and shall be specially charged.

Procedure for Imposing Special Charges

Local improvement roll

35.10 Before a special charge is imposed, the treasurer shall prepare a local improvement roll setting out,

(a) the cost of the work;

(b) every lot to be specially charged and the name of the owner of each lot;

(c) the special charges with which each lot is to be specially charged;

(d) when the special charges are to be paid; and

(e) the lifetime of the work.

Notice and certification of proposed roll

35.11 (1) Before a special charge is imposed, the City shall give notice of the proposed local improvement roll that is prepared to the owners of lots liable to be specially charged.

(2) The treasurer shall certify the proposed local improvement roll after,

(a) considering objections to the roll received from the owners, if any;

(b) considering proposed revisions to the roll received from the City, if any; and

(c) making any corrections to the roll that the treasurer considers fair and equitable as a result of the objections and proposed revisions.

Public access to local improvement roll

35.12 Copies of the proposed local improvement roll shall be available for inspection at the office of the city clerk until the treasurer has certified the local improvement roll.

Effect of certification of local improvement roll

35.13 When certified by the treasurer under subsection 35.11 (2) or section 35.15,

(a) the certified local improvement roll and the special charges set out in it are final and binding, except where otherwise provided in this Regulation; and

(b) the work in respect of which the roll has been prepared and certified is conclusively deemed to have been lawfully undertaken in accordance with this Regulation.

Special charges by-law

35.14 (1) After the treasurer has certified the local improvement roll under subsection 35.11 (2) or section 35.15, the City shall by by-law provide that,

(a) the amount specially charged on each lot set out in the roll is sufficient to raise that lot’s share of the cost by a specified number of annual payments; and

(b) a special charge is imposed in each year on each lot equal to the amount of the payment payable in that year.

(2) The amount of each annual payment shall be entered in the local improvement roll by the treasurer.

(3) The annual payments with respect to a work shall not extend beyond its lifetime.

Amendments to local improvement roll

35.15 The treasurer shall make any corrections in the local improvement roll that are necessary to give effect to changes made in accordance with sections 35.16 and 35.17 and shall certify the corrected roll.

Apportioning special charges if lot subdivided

35.16 (1) If a lot that is or is to be specially charged is subdivided into two or more new lots, the City shall apportion the amount of special charges that would have otherwise been charged on the original lot among the new lots by imposing special charges.

(2) The apportionment of the amount of special charges among the new lots shall be done as follows:

1. If the sufficient agreement provides for a specified method of apportioning special charges among the new lots when an original lot is subdivided, the City shall apportion the amount among the new lots in accordance with the specified method of apportioning special charges.

2. If the sufficient agreement does not provide for a specified method of apportioning special charges among the new lots when an original lot is subdivided, the City may apportion the amount in any manner the City considers just and equitable, having regard to the relative degree of benefit received by each of the new lots.

Reduction or increase in special charge due to gross error

35.17 (1) The treasurer shall, at any time after the certification of the local improvement roll, reduce or increase any special charge for the current year and the remaining years for which the special charge is imposed if the treasurer determines that the special charge is incorrect by reason of any gross or manifest error.

(2) Before reducing or increasing a special charge, the City shall give notice of the proposed reduction or increase to the owners of the lots specially charged for the work and to which the reduction or increase applies.

(3) By filing an objection with the city clerk, a person may object to the reduction or increase to the special charge on the grounds that the reduction or increase is incorrect or not warranted.

(4) The treasurer shall consider the objection and may make any decision the treasurer considers fair and equitable.

(5) Where there is a reduction in the special charge, the amount of the reduction shall be borne by the City.

(6) Where there is an increase in the special charge, the amount of the increase shall be applied towards payment of the special charges imposed to raise the owners’ share of the cost of the work.

Proportion of City’s and owners’ share cannot be changed

35.18 The treasurer shall not change the proportion of the City’s and the owners’ share of the cost, except to the extent that the proportion may be affected by a decision made under section 35.11 or 35.17.

8. The heading before section 36 of the Regulation is revoked and following substituted:

PART IV
TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

Commencement

9. This Regulation comes into force on the day it is filed.

Made by:

Kathleen O’Day Wynne

Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing

Date made: October 23, 2012.