WHEREAS Section 133 of the Community Charter provides that the municipal powers, duties and functions provided under this or any other Act in relation to the service may be exercised in an area outside the municipality when a municipality provides service to that area; AND WHEREAS the Community Charter and the Local Government Act do not provide clarity and expressly stated authority to levy taxes, impose Development Cost Charges or to control crown land parks dedicated by subdivision within the service area: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM request the provincial government to make the necessary legislative changes to provide certainty and expressly stated authority to levy taxes, impose Development Cost Charges and to control park land dedicated by subdivision in the service area when service is provided outside the municipality under Section 13 of the Community Charter.
Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development A municipality may provide services in an area outside its boundary, with the consent of the regional district board, under s.13 of the Community Charter. Section 13 is most commonly applied to services provided outside of boundaries such as water or other utilities. Section 13 gives a municipality the authority to recover service costs directly from recipients outside of the municipality through user fees i.e. utility bills, but does not give the municipality the authority to recover costs by directly levying taxes on properties outside of the municipality in the rural areas. This is the role of the Surveyor of Taxes, who requisitions taxes for all services in rural areas. The concept of taxation authority outside ones jurisdiction would have broader implications for local governments. It is a fundamental principle of government that taxation of citizens is matched with elected representation. Extending taxation outside municipal boundaries would be contrary to that principle. With respect to Development Cost Charges DCCs, the amount of a DCC is determined based on the capital plan of a particular local government and is paid at building permit or subdivision. A municipality would not have control over subdivision applications and building permits in the rural area, and the capital planning requirements attendant to that. Legislation currently allows for DCCs to be levied in electoral area by the regional district for this purpose, as well as for any necessary taxation through a service area, filling this need. The authority to have municipalities levy taxes and collect DCCs outside their boundary is not supported.