WHEREAS the Province, through leases, is the landlord for many properties within local government boundaries; AND WHEREAS improvements on leased land enjoy municipal services and are subject to municipal taxation, but Section 2576 of the Community Charter requires a local government to cancel the outstanding taxes on a defaulted lease: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM urge the Province to amend Section 2576 of the Community Charter so that local governments can collect the outstanding taxes owing; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, should a Crown lessee default upon its local taxes, the Province will compensate the local government for this loss of revenue.
Ministry of Community, Sport Cultural Development The Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development appreciates the difficulties that some municipalities experience when trying to collect unpaid taxes on leased Crown land. While section 2571 of the Community Charter prohibits the use of tax sale as a remedy, there are other mechanisms available that can be used to recover outstanding taxes. Section 252 of the Community Charter, Recovery of Taxes by the Legal Remedy of Distress, allows for a collector to levy the amount of taxes due by distress. Recovery of taxes by distress can be used to collect on outstanding taxes before they become delinquent which provides a municipality an opportunity to collect before the lease is cancelled by the Province which consequently forces the taxes to be written off under section 2576.