Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased to provide its Report on Bill 66, An Act to Amend the Property Assessment and Taxation Act and commends
it to the House. I have four pages to read today, Mr. Speaker.
Bill 66: An Act to Amend the Property Assessment and Taxation Act received
second reading on November 3rd, 2022 and was referred to the Standing Committee on
Government Operations for review.
Bill 66 makes changes to the Property Assessment and Taxation Act. These changes address known issues specific to the assessment side of the Act, based on suggestions from stakeholders to the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Specifically, Bill 66:
- Streamlines certain administrative and operational process to make things more
efficient without changing the overall intent of the act; - Clarifies and modernizes terminology; and
- Ensures that the legislative framework supports a fairer, more effective system.
Bill 66 is the first of two planned pieces of legislation to amend the act. Phase two will
deal with more complex taxation and authorities' issues. Public comments from MACA appear to imply that a second bill will not come forward until the 20th Assembly. Committee is disappointed with this apparent delay as MACA had previously committed to bringing forward a second bill in the life of the 19th Assembly. The act, which has not been comprehensively reviewed since it was first passed in 1988, urgently requires
modernization. Committee hopes MACA will prioritize the second bill and bring it forward
as soon as possible.
Committee considered public input
Committee sought public feedback on Bill 66 with a public notice and targeted engagement letters. Committee received written submissions from:
- The Northwest Territories Association for Communities; and
- The Northwest Territories Metis Nation.
All written submissions are included in an appendix to this report.
Committee also held a public review of Bill 66 on January 23rd, 2023. At that meeting, committee heard remarks from Minister of MACA, asked questions to departmental officials, and received oral comments from the NWTAC and the NWTMN. Committee thanks the NWTAC and the NWTMN for their engagement. Their participation helped committee identify amendments to improve the bill and highlighted other key issues for future consideration. Committee also wishes to highlight a concern raised by the NWT Metis Nation. The NWTMN indicated that they have asked for discussions with the Government of the Northwest Territories to amend the act to exempt Indigenous Metis rights-based cabins from taxation. However, the NWTMN reports that discussions have not taken place. Committee strongly encourages the department to engage with all Indigenous governments on the phase two changes to the act.
Committee amended three clauses
Requiring tribunal decisions within three months
Clause 18 of Bill 66 proposed an operational change so appeals would be resolved in a
timelier manner. Specifically, the clause would have required the Assessment Appeals
Tribunal to sit within three months of the Territorial Board of Revision's
decision.
Committee wanted to see this clause go further. While the clause set a time limit for the
Tribunal to sit, it did not set a timeframe for the Tribunal to render a decision. The clause
also falls short of the NWTAC's advocacy on the issue. NWTAC Resolution 21-98-12
urges: "That the tribunal be granted a period of no more than six months from the time of
the deadline of appeals during which it must rule on said appeals."
Committee sought an amendment that would reflect the NWTAC's resolution. MACA
accepted this request, drafting a motion to drop clause 18 of Bill 66 and to add subclause
19.1 to the bill. The new subclause requires the tribunal to make a decision within three
months of receiving a notice of appeal.
Committee was satisfied with the changes and agreed to pass the amending motion at
the clause-by-clause review.
Publishing ministerial orders that vary timelines
Section 112 of the existing Act allows the Minister to vary any deadline with an order. Two
of the new deadlines introduced in the amended Bill 66 are:
- The Territorial Board of Revision must give a decision by March 31 on complaints in the previous 12 months; and
- The Assessment Appeals Tribunal must give a decision within three months of receiving a notice of appeal.
Committee was concerned that ministerial orders to vary these deadlines may not be
sufficiently transparent to the public. The existing act does not expressly require variation orders to be public - though they are registered and published in the next monthly issue of the Northwest Territories Gazette, which is publicly available.
Committee sought an amendment to require variation orders to be made public without
delay. MACA accepted this request and drafted a corresponding motion. The motion split
section 112 into two subsections: Subsection 112(1) retained the language of the existing
section 112. Subsection 112(2) required any variation order to be published on the
department's website within five days. Committee was satisfied with the amendment and approved the motion at the clause-by-clause review.
Requiring public approval for purchases by municipal council members, officers, and employees
Clause 22 of Bill 66 reverses the current ban on council members, officers, and
employees in the six municipal taxing authorities to purchase taxable property offered for sale at a municipal public auction.
While supporting the intent of clause 22, the NWTAC explained that more detail in the
clause would be beneficial. The NWTAC was concerned that municipalities may have difficulty interpreting the clause as it was drafted.
Committee sought an amendment to clause 22 to specify what it means for the council to
provide "prior approval" for a purchase. Committee wanted to ensure that council's
decision to approve would be made public and that council had more legislative guidance
when granting approval.
MACA accepted committee's request and drafted a motion to amend. The amendment
added subclause 97.81(1.1), which requires council's approval to be made by resolution
and to be recorded in the minutes of the meeting at which the approval was given.
Committee was satisfied that this addition provided sufficient legislative guidance to
municipalities and agreed to pass the motion with the amendment. Committee believes
these requirements for public processes will support municipalities in managing the risk
of potential conflicts of interest.
Further building on the NWTAC's feedback, committee asked that MACA commit to
developing a guidance document covering council approval for purchases by municipal employees. Such a guidance document should include the options and best practices available to municipalities to address the potential for conflict of interest. MACA should consult the NWTAC in this work.
Committee scrutinized board of revision timeline
Clause 15 of Bill 66 would require the Territorial Board of Revision to give a decision by
March 31 on complaints in the previous 12 months. Committee was concerned about
unworkable timelines - for example, if a complaint was made in mid- or late-March, the
Board of Revision would only have a couple of weeks or days to give a decision. Committee considered putting forward an amendment that would define the deadline based on equal wait time.
MACA provided committee with further explanation on the choice for the March 31
deadline. The assessment roll is generally finalized in October; afterwards, there is a
certain amount of time for ratepayers to make complaints, then the roll needs to be
revised. MACA projected that, in the vast majority of cases, the notice of assessment is
provided by February 15th - and in most cases earlier than that. That provides enough
time for the Board of Revision to give a decision by March 31. The Board of Revision also
only meets once per year. MACA wanted to avoid convening multiple meetings. The
March 31 date also ensures complaints are decided on within the same fiscal year, averting an impact on the property taxes a municipality can collect in the next fiscal year. Finally, MACA pointed out that if the March 31st deadline is not workable, section 112 of the existing act allows the Minister to vary the date.
Committee accepted the department's explanation but brought forward and approved an amendment to ensure that, in the rare occasions that the Minister varies the deadline, the order would be made public without delay.
Conclusion
On February 13, 2023, committee held a clause-by-clause review. Committee passed
a motion to report Bill 66, as amended, to the Legislative Assembly as ready for
consideration in Committee of the Whole.
This concludes the Standing Committee on Government Operations' review of Bill 66. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.