O. Reg. 46/94: MUNICIPAL AND SCHOOL CAPITAL FACILITIES - AGREEMENTS AND TAX EXEMPTIONS, TAX MATTERS - TIME LIMITS FOR 2005 UNDER SECTIONS 308, 308.1, 310, 311, 314, 329.1 AND 362 OF THE ACT

Municipal Act, 2001
Loi de 2001 sur les municipalités

ONTARIO REGULATION 46/94

Amended to O. Reg. 401/02

MUNICIPAL AND SCHOOL CAPITAL FACILITIES AGREEMENTS AND TAX EXEMPTIONS

Historical version for the period January 1, 2003 to December 26, 2006.

This Regulation is made in English only.

1. In this Regulation,

“financing lease” means a lease allowing for the provision of municipal capital facilities if the lease may or will require payment by the municipality beyond the term for which the council was elected;

“housing project” means a project or part of a project designed to provide or facilitate the provision of residential accommodation, with or without any public space, recreational facilities and commercial space or buildings appropriate thereto;

“housing unit” includes a unit in a housing project owned or rented by an occupant;

“material impact” means costs or risks that significantly affect, or would reasonably be expected to have a significant effect on, the debt and financial obligation limit prescribed under Ontario Regulation 799/94;

“municipal capital facilities” and “school capital facilities” include land, as defined in the Assessment Act, works, equipment, machinery and related systems and infrastructures. O. Reg. 46/94, s. 1; O. Reg. 189/01, s. 1; O. Reg. 266/02, s. 1; O. Reg. 401/02, s. 1.

2. The council of a municipality may enter into an agreement under subsection 110 (1) of the Act for the provision of the following classes of municipal capital facilities:

1. Facilities used by the council.

2. Facilities used for the general administration of the municipality.

3. Municipal roads, highways and bridges.

4. Municipal local improvements and public utilities, except facilities for the generation of electricity.

5. Municipal facilities related to the provision of telecommunications, transit and transportation systems.

6. Municipal facilities for water, sewers, sewage, drainage and flood control.

7. Municipal facilities for the collection and management of waste and garbage.

8. Municipal facilities related to policing, fire-fighting and by-law enforcement.

9. Municipal facilities for the protection, regulation and control of animals.

10. Municipal facilities related to the provision of social and health services, including homes under the Homes for the Aged and Rest Homes Act.

11. Municipal facilities for public libraries.

12. Municipal facilities that combine the facilities described in paragraphs 1 to 11.

13. Parking facilities ancillary to facilities described in any of paragraphs 1 to 12.

14. Municipal community centres.

15. Parking facilities ancillary to facilities described in paragraph 14.

16. Municipal facilities used for cultural, recreational or tourist purposes.

17. Municipal general parking facilities and parking facilities ancillary to facilities described in paragraph 16.

18. Municipal housing project facilities. O. Reg. 46/94, s. 2; O. Reg. 189/01, s. 2; O. Reg. 401/02, s. 2.

3. The classes of municipal capital facilities described in section 2 are also eligible municipal capital facilities for the purpose of a tax exemption under subsection 110 (6) of the Act. O. Reg. 46/94, s. 3; O. Reg. 266/02, s. 2; O. Reg. 401/02, s. 3.

4. Municipal capital facilities may be the subject of an agreement under subsection 110 (1) of the Act or a tax exemption under subsection 110 (6) of the Act even if they are contiguous with or part of land or works that are not municipal capital facilities. O. Reg. 46/94, s. 4; O. Reg. 401/02, s. 4.

5. The council of a municipality may enter into an agreement respecting municipal capital facilities described in paragraphs 14 and 15 of section 2 only if,

(a) the municipal capital facilities are primarily used for local community activities; and

(b) the council has declared by resolution that the municipal capital facilities are for the purposes of the municipality and are for a public use. O. Reg. 46/94, s. 5; O. Reg. 537/96, s. 1.

6. (1) The council of a municipality may enter into an agreement respecting municipal capital facilities described in paragraphs 16 and 17 of section 2 only if,

(a) the municipality or another municipality or a public sector entity described in subsection (2) owns or agrees to purchase or will own on reversion of the property, the municipal capital facilities, including the land where they are situate; and

(b) the council has declared by resolution that the municipal capital facilities are for the purposes of the municipality and are for public use. O. Reg. 537/96, s. 2.

(2) The following are public sector entities for the purposes of clause (1) (a):

1. The Crown.

2. A local board as defined in section 1 of the Municipal Affairs Act.

3. The board of governors of a college of applied arts and technology established under section 5 of the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act.

4. A person authorized to grant degrees by an Act of the Assembly or by the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities under the Post-secondary Education Choice and Excellence Act, 2000. O. Reg. 537/96, s. 2; O. Reg. 266/02, s. 3.

6.1 (1) The council of a municipality may enter into an agreement respecting municipal capital facilities described in paragraph 18 of section 2 only if,

(a) before the by-law authorizing the agreement is enacted, the municipality has enacted a municipal housing facility by-law that complies with subsection (2);

(b) the municipality has determined that all the housing units to be provided as part of the municipal capital facilities fall within the definition of “affordable housing” contained in the municipal housing facility by-law; and

(c) the municipality is a delivery agent under the Ontario Works Act, 1997 authorized to operate and manage housing projects under the Social Housing Reform Act, 2000. O. Reg. 189/01, s. 3; O. Reg. 266/02, s. 4.

(2) A municipal housing facility by-law shall contain at least the following:

1. A definition of “affordable housing”.

2. Policies regarding public eligibility for the housing units to be provided as part of the municipal capital facilities.

3. A summary of the provisions that agreements respecting municipal capital facilities described in paragraph 18 of section 2 are required to contain. O. Reg. 189/01, s. 3.

7. Under subsection 110 (12) of the Act, a school board may exempt from taxation as a school capital facility anything that the school board is authorized to provide under the Education Act, the Day Nurseries Act, the Public Libraries Act, the Community Recreation Centres Act or The Essex County French-language Secondary School Act, 1977. O. Reg. 266/02, s. 5; O. Reg. 401/02, s. 5.

8. (1) The council of a municipality may enter into a financing lease only if,

(a) before the by-law authorizing the financing lease is enacted, the municipality has adopted a statement of the municipality’s lease financing policies and goals; and

(b) the financing lease includes a schedule of all fixed amounts of payment, if any, required under the lease and that may be required under any possible extensions or renewals of the lease. O. Reg. 266/02, s. 5.

(2) The statement mentioned in clause (1) (a),

(a) shall include, at a minimum, a discussion of the financial and other risks for the municipality of financing leases; and

(b) may provide for a special category of financing leases, to be composed of financing leases which, in the opinion of both the treasurer and the council, would not result in a material impact for the municipality. O. Reg. 266/02, s. 5.

9. (1) Before entering into a financing lease, the council of a municipality shall,

(a) have its treasurer prepare a report with a recommendation, assessing, in the opinion of the treasurer, the costs and financial and other risks associated with the proposed financing lease, including,

(i) a comparison between the fixed and estimated costs and the risks associated with the proposed lease and those associated with other methods of financing,

(ii) a statement summarizing, as may be applicable, the effective rate or rates of financing for the lease, the ability for lease payment amounts to vary, and the methods or calculations, including possible financing rate changes, that may be used to establish that variance under the lease,

(iii) a statement summarizing any contingent payment obligations under the lease that in the opinion of the treasurer would result in a material impact for the municipality, including lease termination provisions, equipment loss, equipment replacement options and guarantees and indemnities,

(iv) a summary of the assumptions applicable to any possible variations in the lease payment and contingent payment obligations, and

(v) any other matters the treasurer or council considers advisable;

(b) obtain legal advice and financial advice with respect to the proposed financing lease;

(c) consider if the scope of the proposed transaction warrants obtaining legal advice or financial advice with respect to the proposed financing lease that is from a source independent of the source of the advice mentioned in clause (b);

(d) advise in writing the regional municipality of which it forms a part of the proposed financing lease before the lease is entered into, in the case of a lower-tier municipality; and

(e) consider and give its assessment of the report prepared under clause (a), including whether, in its opinion, the costs of financing for the proposed financing lease are lower than other methods of financing available to the municipality, and whether the risks associated with the financing lease are reasonable. O. Reg. 266/02, s. 5.

(2) The costs and risks associated with a proposed financing lease in a report made under subsection (1) shall be assessed as of the date the report is made. O. Reg. 266/02, s. 5.

(3) At any time after a report under subsection (1) is made, but before the financing lease is entered into, if the treasurer becomes of the opinion that a changed circumstance with respect to the proposed lease may result in a material impact for the municipality, the treasurer shall as soon as is reasonably possible update the report and present the updated report to the council. O. Reg. 266/02, s. 5.

(4) A report made under subsection (1) shall summarize the information required by that subsection for the entire term of the financing lease, including any possible extensions or renewals. O. Reg. 266/02, s. 5.

(5) Despite this section, a municipality may enter into a financing lease without complying with the requirements of subsection (1) if,

(a) the statement of lease financing policies and goals includes the category referred to in clause 8 (2) (b); and

(b) in the opinion of the treasurer and the council, the proposed lease is within that category, and its costs and risks, in combination with all the others leases of that category entered into or proposed to be entered into in that year by the municipality, would not result in a material impact for the community. O. Reg. 266/02, s. 5.

(6) In this section,

“costs” includes the costs of any advice obtained under clause (1) (b) or (c). O. Reg. 266/02, s. 5.

10. (1) If a municipality has one or more financing leases subsisting in a fiscal year, the treasurer of the municipality shall prepare and present to council of the municipality once in that fiscal year, or more often if the council so desires, a detailed report containing the information described in subsection (2). O. Reg. 266/02, s. 5.

(2) The detailed report mentioned in subsection (1) shall contain,

(a) a description of the estimated proportion of the total financing arrangements of the municipality that is undertaken through financing leases to the total long-term debt of the municipality and a description of the change, if any, in that estimated proportion since the previous year’s report;

(b) a statement by the treasurer as to whether, in his or her opinion, all financing leases were made in accordance with the statement of leasing policies and goals adopted by the municipality; and

(c) any other information that the council may require or that, in the opinion of the treasurer, should be recorded. O. Reg. 266/02, s. 5.