THE DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY OF MUSKOKA CORPORATE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES COMMITTEE A G E N D A Meeting No. CES-5-2007 Friday, March 30, 2007 9:00 a.m. Council Chamber, District Administration Building Pages 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. DECLARATIONS OF PECUNIARY INTERESTS 3. FINANCE 1 – 10 a) 2007 Annual Tax Policy Review Report No. CES-5-2007-1 Recommendation THAT the 2007 Annual Tax Policy Review be received as information; AND THAT a by-law be prepared Setting Tax Ratios and Tax Rate Reductions for the 2007 tax year as outlined in Report No. CES-5-2007-1; AND THAT Option Number ____ as outlined in Report No. CES-5-2007-1, as it relates to the exempt status of the Royal Canadian Legions be approved. 11 - 12 b) Draft 2007 Corporate and Emergency Services Operating Budget and the 2007 Capital Budget and 10 Year Forecast Report No. CES-5-2007-2 * Reminder to bring your copy of the 2007 Draft Tax Supported Operating Budget and Capital Budget and Forecast binder to the meeting. Thank you. Recommendation THAT the Draft 2007 Corporate and Emergency Services Operating Budget and the 2007 Capital Budget and 10-Year Forecast, as amended, be endorsed and referred to Committee of Whole Council for further consideration; AND THAT the Draft 2007 Non-Program Operating Budget be endorsed and referred to Committee of Whole Council for further consideration. 13 - 20 c) Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF) Report No. CES-5-2007-3 Recommendation THAT the City of North Bay Resolution No. 2007-87 regarding Ontario Municipal Partnership (OMPF) as attached to Report No. CES-5-2007-3 be supported; AND THAT the District Chair circulate a copy of this resolution to the Honourable Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario, the Honourable Greg Sorbara, Minister of Finance and to Norman Miller, M.P.P. Parry Sound- Muskoka, along with a statement to the effect that The District Municipality of Muskoka views this as an interim solution to the Provincial-Municipal Fiscal Imbalance and the Province must expedite the Provincial-Municipal Fiscal and Service Delivery Review with the goal to removing the costs of health and social programs from the local property tax bill. Pages 21 - 24 d) 2007 Port Carling Locks and Port Sandfield Swing Bridge Fees Report No. CES-5-2007-4 Recommendation THAT the fees and charges for use of the Port Carling Locks and Port Sandfield Swing Bridge for 2007 be established in accordance with Option A of “Schedule A” attached to Report No. CES-5-2007-4; AND THAT the fee payable by the operator of the R.M.S. Segwun, Wenonah II and Wanda III from the first Monday in May to Thanksgiving Monday shall be $9,000. 4. EMERGENCY SERVICES STAFF REPORTS 25 - 26 a) Purchase of New Ambulance Report No. CES-5-2007-5 Recommendation THAT The District Municipality of Muskoka approve the purchase of one Demers 350HP, 158 inch wheelbase, dual stretcher ambulance, at a cost of $98,035 plus taxes, plus $1,950 for the factory installed MapLocator mount and wiring for a total of $99,985; AND THAT $1,000 will be credited by Demers to the District as an incentive further reducing the cost to $98,985; AND THAT the trade-in value of approximately $3,500 will be used to reduce the purchase price, thereby resulting in a final cost of $96,485 plus taxes; AND THAT the purchase of the ambulance be financed from the Ambulance Reserve; AND THAT Vehicle 5274 be declared surplus; AND THAT the Commissioner of Finance and Corporate Services be authorized to accept the trade-in price offered by Demers in the amount of $3,500 to ensure the best return for the District on surplus vehicles. 5. INFORMATION ITEM a) Correspondence – Alternate Emergency Operations Centre 27 - 28 CES-5-2007-INFO-A b) Correspondence – OPP Attending Funerals 29 - 32 CES-5-2007-INFO-B c) Correspondence – Essential Level Emergency Management Program 33 CES-5-2007-INFO-C 6. NEW BUSINESS 7. ADJOURNMENT THAT the Corporate and Emergency Services Committee adjourns to meet again on Friday, April 20, 2007 at 9:00 a.m. or at the call of the Chair. THE DISTRlq_MuNICIPALITY OF MUSKOKA CORPORATE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES DEPARTMENT 70 PINE STREET, BRACEBRIDGE, ONTARIO P1L 1N3 Telephone (705) 645-2231 Fax (705) 645-5319 1-800-461-4210 (705 area code) wwwmuskoka.on..ca TO: Chair and Members Corporate and Emergency Services Committee FROM: Stephen Cairns, Commissioner of Finance and Corporate Services DATE: March 30, 2007 SUBJECT: 2007 Annual Tax Policy Review REPORT NO: CES-5-2007-1 RECOMMENDATION THAT the 2007 Annual Tax Policy Review be received as information; AND THAT a by-law be prepared Setting Tax Ratios and Tax Rate Reductions for the 2007 tax year as outlined in Report No..CES-5-2007-1; AND THAT Option Number _ as outlined in Report No ..CES-5-2007-1, as it relates to the exempt status of the Royal Canadian Legions be approved .. ORIGIN The purpose of this report is to set the 2007 tax ratios for The District Municipality of Muskoka and to review other related tax policies and, where necessary, make recommendations to Council to update or amend those policies where appropriate .. The Municipal Act requires upper tier municipalities to establish through by-law a number of tax policies, including the setting of tax ratios for the year.. For several of these policy considerations the deadline for passage of the by-laws is April 30, 2007.. In particular, those by-laws being reviewed include o By-law No ..2006-26 "Setting Tax Ratios and Tax Rate Reductions", which is addressed in this report; o By-law No ..2006-32 "Limiting Tax Decreases" and By-law No ..2006-27 "Establishing Sums Required and Tax Rates to be Levied" which will be prepared upon final approval of the 2007 Tax Supported Operating Budget j\1allaging Our Legac!1 Together ANALYSIS 1) Changing Optional Phase-in Treatment of New Construction Section 329 of the Municipal Act allows municipalities to place a lower limit on the starting tax level for eligible new construction properties ..For example, when setting the tax level of a newly constructed property with the introduction of lower limits, the tax level will be the lower of the Current Value Assessment (CVA) tax, the average level of the comparable properties supplied by MPAC, or the lower level, if the average comparable properties fall below the minimum set by- law ..In 2005, Council set the minimum percentages at: a. 2005 -70% b.. 2006 - 80% c.. 2007 - 90% d. 2008 - 100% The advantages of setting minimum tax levels:: • Limit unrecoverable losses created by new construction adjustments not funded through the capping calculations; • Prevent properties from entering the cap protection clauses at extremely low tax levels; and • Moves new construction closer to CVA 2) Changing of Tax Ratios Section 308 of the Municipal Act requires the upper-tier municipality to pass a by-law on or before April 30th in each year to establish the tax ratios for that year for the upper-tier municipality and its lower-tier municipalities ..Those ratios are reflected in the following table .. The District Municipality of Muskoka does have the option of setting a tax ratio of less than 0..25 to the Farmland property class, however, given farm property's relative favourable tax burden and the fact that the existing tax ratios are within the range of fairness, staff recommend not changing the existing tax ratios .. The District Municipality of Provincial Muskoka Range of Class Current Tax Fairness Options Ratio Residential 1..0 1.0 N/A Multi Residential 1.0 1..0-1 ..1 Can change ratios within range Commercial 1..1 0..6- 1 1 Industrial 1..1 0..6-1 ..1 Pipeline .7 0..6-1 ..1 Farmland ..25 ..25 Can change ratio below ..25 Managed Forest ..25 .25 N/A 3) Vacant Unit Rebates Section 364 of the Municipal Act requires municipalities to establish a program to provide tax rebates to owners of property that have vacant portions if that property is in any of the commercial classes or industrial classes ..The percentage reduction options are as follows: o 30% - commercial o 35% - industrial o 30% - 35% - blended rate The District Municipality of Muskoka's current policy (By-law 2006-26) allows for a blended rate for both commercial and industrial properties of 30% .. 4) Tax Reduction for Farmland Awaiting Development Subclasses Section 383 of the Municipal Act allows municipalities to establish two categories of farmland awaiting development • Type (1) with subdivision registered may be taxed at between 25% - 75% of the residential tax rate and can only be increased by 10% per annum.. • Type (4) with building permit issued may be taxed at up to 100% of zoned class rate. The District Municipality of Muskoka's current policy (By-law 2006-26) sets the tax rate at 35% for type (1) properties and 100% for type (2) properties. 5) Tax Capping Options - Commercial, Industrial and Multi-residential Section 329 of the Municipal Act allows municipalities to • Continue with the existing 5% capping rule (last year's taxes + 5% + overall levy change); • Increase the annual cap from 5% of last year's capped taxes up to 10% and/or; • Set the upper limit on annual increases at the greater of the existing 5% capped rule or the optional rate (5-10%) vs ..5% of previous year's annualized taxes; • A minimum threshold of up to $250; • Or a combination of the above .. In 2005, Council passed the following resolution and by-law THA ithe tax capping options for the Commercial, Industrial & Multi-Residential classes be established at an upper limit on annual increases at the greater of the existing 5% capped rule or 10% of previous year's annualized taxes with a minimum threshold of $250;· The introduction of these capping rules dramatically reduced the number of properties effected by claw backs while increasing the rate at which capped properties move to their full CVA tax levels (elimination of tax subsidies to properties receiving relatively small reductions in the $1 to $250 range).