Resolutions

WHEREAS municipalities, particularly those without bylaw enforcement officers, have limited resources to pursue bylaw infractions without the added considerable expense of legal advice and representation to court; and

WHEREAS the current Municipalities Act sections 373(1) and (2) restricts the legal force of an urban municipality’s Bylaw Enforcement Officer to representing the municipality before a justice of the peace or provincial court for support in upholding local Bylaws;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT SUMA advocate the Province to amend legislation to allow constituent communities to add unpaid fines onto ratepayers tax rolls.

• Subsection 373(1) of The Municipalities Act, section 337 of The Cities Act and section 394 of The Northern Municipalities Act, 2010 allow municipalities to appoint a bylaw enforcement officer, define their duties, and outline their remuneration. Municipalities are not required to have a bylaw enforcement officer. These provisions provide for a bylaw enforcement officer to represent the municipality in court, but do not in any way restrict the bylaw enforcement officer’s duties to representation in court.
   
• Section 369 of The Municipalities Act, section 333 of The Cities Act and section 389 of The Northern Municipalities Act, 2010 allows a council, in certain situations, to add amounts to the tax roll of a parcel of land. Once an amount is applied to taxable property in a municipality, the taxpayer at that address is responsible for paying the tax incurred. The amount added to the taxes becomes a tax and a lien on the property until it is paid. In the event the property is sold, any amounts added to the tax roll stay with the property, unless covered by contractual obligations during the sale.
   
• Amounts to be added to the tax roll cannot bypass the judicial process and must generally be related to the property. The Ministry of Government Relations is open to proposals for expanding municipal authority to add other amounts to the tax roll, with the following considerations:
  1. It is important for citizens to have a mechanism for disputing a fine or a bylaw infraction. If a citizen disagrees with a charge, they are entitled to judicial process before being fined. If the fine amount is simply added to the tax roll, it bypasses a person’s right to defend themself.
  2. In some instances, a bylaw infraction could be committed by someone other than the property owner. For example, a property owner could hire a contractor to remove a tree on the edge of a property, and if the contractor damages the road, the property owner would be responsible.
  3. The category of “bylaw infraction fines” is wide-ranging and could include many infractions that are not related to property such as parking, traffic, or other offenses. More clarification and definition of the bylaw infractions would be needed because the legislation would need to be very specific.