Towns and Local Service Districts Act (TLSDA)

Information Session

March 22, 2024

• TLSDA vs. Municipalities Act, 1999

• Key Amendments

o Autonomy

o Accountability

o Revenue

o Services and Programs

o Enforcement

• Continuing Provisions

• Road to Proclamation – Coming Into Force

• Questions

Contents

Towns and Local Service District Act

• Enabling

• Facilitates autonomy and flexibility

• Reduces frequent legislative amendments

• Reduces unnecessary Ministerial oversight

• Red tape reduction

• Mandatory services

• Increased discretion for feasibility studies

• Improves readability

• Gender neutral

• Addresses longstanding LSD concerns

General Comparison – New Vs. Old

Municipalities Act, 1999

• Prescriptive

• Top-down direction limiting autonomy and flexibility

• New issues required legislative amendments

• Unnecessary Ministerial oversight

• Outdated processes

• No mandatory services

• No discretion for feasibility studies

• Outdated language and cumbersome

• Not gender neutral

• Outdated LSD practices

• Grants limited natural person powers to towns

• Defines town purposes as:

o provision of good governance

o provision of services, facilities, or things necessary or desirable for the community

o development and maintenance of a safe and sustainable community

o fostering of economic, social, and environmental well-being

Autonomy

• Provides broad by-law making authorities within local jurisdiction

• By-law making authority applies to town purposes and town boundaries; cannot conflict with

federal and provincial laws

• Replaces ministerial approval for the acquisition of property, and the sale, lease or disposal

of property at less than fair market value with a 2/3 majority vote of councillors in office

• Allows costs for property remediation to be charged to the owner and if costs cannot be

recovered, a lien may be placed on the property

Autonomy

• Lists the duties of a councillor and powers of delegation

• Requires all town council meetings, including committee meetings, to be open to the public

except when closed for legitimate purposes

• Introduces criteria for holding closed meetings

• Requires all decisions of town council to be made in a public meeting

• Requires all town council committees to consist of at least two town councillors

• Removes mandatory newspaper advertising requirement for public notices and introduces a

general notice provision that allows for the use of modern technology

Accountability

Criteria for holding closed meetings:

41. (1) Notwithstanding section 40, a town council meeting or a town council committee meeting may be

closed to the public for the duration of the discussion if it is necessary to discuss

(a) information of which the confidentiality is protected by law;

(b) personal information that is protected under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act,

2015 ;

negotiations leading to an agreement or contract;

(d) the proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land;

(e) information that could violate the confidentiality of information obtained from the Government of

Canada or from the government of a province or territory;

Accountability

Criteria for holding closed meetings:

(f) information concerning legal opinions or advice provided to the town council by its lawyer or privileged

communications between lawyer and client in a matter of town business;

(g) litigation or potential litigation affecting the town or a municipal service delivery corporation or a matter

before a board, commission or tribunal that affects the town or a municipal service delivery

corporation;

(h) the access to or security of buildings and other structures occupied or used by the town or access to

or security of systems of the town, including computer or communication systems;

(i) information gathered by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, in

the course of investigating any illegal activity or suspected illegal activity, or the source of that

information; or

(j) labour and employment matters, including the negotiation of collective agreements.

Accountability

• Makes real property tax for residential and commercial property mandatory

(three-year transition period)

• Removes authority to impose a poll tax (three-year transition period)

• Allows towns to sub-classify residential and commercial properties and apply

taxes differently in different categories

• Makes business tax discretionary (either towns impose it or don’t)

• Authorizes all towns to impose a tourist accommodation tax of not more than

four per cent of room charge

Revenue

• Water and sewer taxes change to water and sewer fees (three-year

transition period)

• Authorizes towns to apply tax discounts for demonstrated financial

hardship, and charitable and community organizations

• Authorizes towns to offer equal-payment plans for municipal tax bills

Revenue

• Requires towns to adopt a by-law before engaging in arrears sales (formally

tax sales)

• Removes the prohibition against conducting an arrears sale where the

owner is occupying the property as a primary residence

• Allows all money owed to the town with respect to a property to constitute a

lien on the property (includes taxes, fees and remediation costs)

• Property tax arrears constitute a priority lien

Revenue

• Sets out mandatory core public health and safety services (waste collection and

removal; fire protection; maintenance of local roadways; and snow clearing of local

roadways)

• Provides authority for the minister to make regulations setting minimum service

standards

• Identifies economic development as a municipal purpose and defines economic

development in relation to maintaining and increasing a town’s tax base

• Towns may not acquire equity or hold securities in private for-profit development, or

provide loans or guarantee loans to private corporations

Services & Programs

• All towns may appoint one or more by-law enforcement officers

• By-law enforcement officers are restricted to enforcing the town by-laws

• Clarifies that by-law enforcement officers do not have police powers

• Provides by-law enforcement officers with the necessary inspection powers to carry out

their responsibilities

• Extends violation notice (ticketing) authority for by-law violations to all towns

• Extends authority to create by-laws for non-moving traffic violations (parking) and

enforcement for those non-moving violations

Enforcement

• A permit, licence or approval issued under the Municipalities Act, 1999, is

considered to have been issued under the TLSDA

• All orders and by-laws (currently referred to as regulations) in force on the date that

the TLSDA comes into force shall continue in force until amended, repealed or

replaced

• A decision or order under the Municipalities Act, 1999, shall continue in force and

shall be considered to be a decision or order under the TLSDA

• All contracts and agreements entered into by a town council before the coming into

force of the TLSDA are binding on the town they govern

Continuing Provisions

• Once confirmed, the date for the coming into force (proclamation) of the TLSDA will

be communicated

• In preparation for proclamation, MAPA is working on the following:

o amendments to existing Regulations

o development of new Regulations

o development of a new Municipal Handbook

o information sessions

o development and delivery of training materials

Road to Proclamation

• In advance of proclamation, towns should begin:

o reviewing the TLSDA

o developing mandatory by-laws

o reviewing and amending existing by-laws

o implementing mandatory services

o attending information sessions

TLSDA link: https://www.assembly.nl.ca/Legislation/sr/statutes/t06-2.htm

Road to Proclamation

Questions

Your Question(s) and/or Comment(s)

Please provide question(s) and/or comment(s) and contact information for MAPA’s response.