| Title: | Fees & Charges - Fire Department |
|---|---|
| Number: | 98-2020 |
| Adopted Date: | April 20, 2020 |
| Amends: | 51-2020 |
| Repeals: | 148-2015, 77-2018 |
CORPORATION OF THE NATION MUNICIPALITY
BY-LAW NO. 98-2020 (By-law #51-2020 will follow)
BEING a By-Law to amend by-law No. 51-2020, being a by-law to allow the Fire Department to impose user fees and charges for services or activities stemming from the Fire Department.
WHEREAS pursuant to the Municipal Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, c. 25, Part XII, section 391 (1.1) (the "Municipal Act"), as amended, provides that the Municipality may adopt a bylaw on the user fees and expenses;
WHEREAS pursuant to section 8 of the Municipal Act, the powers of a municipality are to be interpreted broadly as to confer broad authority on the municipality to enable the municipality to govern its affairs as it considered appropriate and to enhance the municipality's ability to respond to municipal issues;
WHEREAS provisions of the Municipal Act, 2001, Part XIV, section 446 as amended, provides that the fees and charges imposed by a municipality on a person constitutes a debt of the person to the municipality and the Treasurer may add these fees and charges to the tax roll for any property for which all of the owners are responsible for paying the fees and charges, and collect them in the same manner as municipal taxes;
WHEREAS Part VIII, section 35 of the "Fire Protection and Prevention Act 1997 S.O. 1997, as amended, provides that the Fire Chief or an assistant of the Fire Marshall may impose the fees and charges for services or activities stemming from a fire department.
AND WHEREAS the Council of The Nation Municipality deems it expedient to amend By-law 51-2020.
THEREFORE, the Council of the Corporation of The Nation Municipality enacts as follows:
That By Law No 51-2020 be amended as follows
1. The following section to be added to By-law 51-2020:
Section 9.1 The Property Owner has the right to ask for a review of the charged fees if the amount of the invoice is greater than $10 000.00 before taxes. Steps to do so are listed in Schedule "A" of this By-law.
2. Annex A of By-law 51-2020 to be amended as follows:
Section 5 Cost of Materials for 0 to 10 people is $250.00.
3. Add the following section to Annex A of By-law 51-2020
Section 16 Steps for Review of Charges
The Property Owner must send an email or letter to the Municipal Clerk stating what part of the charges they wish to have reviewed along with a recommendation as to what the desired outcome of the review should be.
READ A FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD TIME AND PASSED IN OPEN COUNCIL THIS 19th DAY OF OCTOBER 2020
BY-LAW No. 51-2020
BEING A BYLAW PERMITTING THE FIRE DEPARTMENT TO IMPOSE USER FEES AND CHARGES FOR SERVICES OR ACTIVITIES STEMMING FROM THE FIRE DEPARTMENT
WHEREAS pursuant to the Municipal Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, c. 25, Part XII, section 391 (1.1) (the "Municipal Act"), as amended, provides that the Municipality may adopt a bylaw on the user fees and expenses;
WHEREAS pursuant to section 8 of the Municipal Act, the powers of a municipality are to be interpreted broadly as to confer broad authority on the municipality to enable the municipality to govern its affairs as it considered appropriate and to enhance the municipality's ability to respond to municipal issues;
WHEREAS provisions of the Municipal Act, 2001, Part XIV, section 446 as amended, provides that the fees and charges imposed by a municipality on a person constitutes a debt of the person to the municipality and the Treasurer may add these fees and charges to the tax roll for any property for which all of the owners are responsible for paying the fees and charges, and collect them in the same manner as municipal taxes;
AND WHEREAS Part VIII, section 35 of the "Fire Protection and Prevention Act 1997 S.O. 1997 , as amended, provides that the Fire Chief or an assistant of the Fire Marshall may impose the fees and charges for services or activities stemming from a fire department.
NOW THEREFORE the Council of The Nation Municipality ENACTS the following:
1. In this Bylaw:
a) "Approved" means approved by the municipal council;
b) "Assistant to the Fire Marshal" means a person designated by the Office of the Fire Marshal under Subsection 11(1), 5(a)(b)(c)(d) of the "Fire Protection and Prevention Act 1997O. 1997;
c) "Council" means the Council for the Corporation of The Nation Municipality;
d) "Corporation" means the Corporation of The Nation Municipality;
e) "Indemnification Technology®" shall mean Fire Department incident reporting, data collection and property insurance policy wording interpretation to maximize billing opportunities on behalf of fire departments by invoicing insurance companies for costs of fire department attendance with respect to insured perils;
f) "Fire Chief" means a the person appointed by the Council of the municipality under subsection 6 (1), (2), or (4) of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act1997O. 1997;
g) "Owner" means the registered owner of property or any person, firm, corporation, partnership or society and their heirs, executors, administrators or other legal representatives, including a property manager, tenant, occupant, mortgagee in possession, receiver, manager, trustee or trustee in bankruptcy having control over or possession of the property or any portion thereof;
h) "Property" means any real property located within the geographical boundaries of the Municipality, and any real property to which the Fire Department is under a service agreement to provide Fire Department Response services, Automatic Aid or Mutual Aid. Real property includes buildings, contents and structures of any nature and kind in or upon such lands to which service is provided;
i) "The Nation Fire Department" means the Fire Department for the Corporation of The Nation Municipality and being a fire department within the meaning of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act 1997O. 1997, as amended;
2. The Nation Municipality shall impose fees, as set out in Schedule "A" attached, for services or activities provided, done by or on behalf of The Nation Fire Department and those fees constitute a debt of the person to the municipality.
3. The Municipality may use Indemnification Technology® to assess applicable insurance coverage for Fire Department Specific Response Fees.
4. Where the Municipality believes and/or Indemnification Technology® indicates Fire Department Specific Response Fees are applicable but the Owner does not have, in part or in full, insurance coverage for fire department charges for the Property, the Municipality may adjust the Fire Department Specific Response Fees to the extent of insurance coverage upon provision by the Owner of evidence, to the satisfaction of the Municipality, that no such insurance coverage exists or to demonstrate the limits of such coverage.
5. In this By-Law, words importing the neuter gender shall include the feminine gender and masculine gender and vice versa and words importing the singular shall include the plural where the context requires.
6. Schedule "A" shall be deemed to be part of this By-law.
7. The Owner of property to which services or activities set out in Schedule "A" are provided or done by The Nation Fire Department, regardless of whether requested by the Owner or an agent of the Owner and invoiced to the Owner by The Nation Municipality, shall pay the fees imposed for such service or activity;
8. If a property Owner who is charged a fee under this By-law fails to pay the fee within the prescribed time for payment as set out in the invoice, the Municipality may add the fee, including interest, to the tax roll of any real property registered in the name of the Owner and collect the fee, including interest, in the same manner as municipal taxes. Collection costs for unpaid fees and charges may be added to the original costs.
9. Where there is more than one Owner, their liability for payment shall be joint and several.
10. The fees listed in Schedule "A" of this By-law are in Canadian dollars and will be subject to Harmonized Sales Tax (H.S.T.) and a 5% administration charge where applicable.
11. Should any part of this By-law, including any part in Schedule "A", be determined by a Court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or of no force and effect, it is the stated intention of Council that such invalid part of the By-law shall be severable and that the remainder of this By-law including the remainder of Schedule "A", as applicable, shall continue to operate and to be in force and effect.
12. The By-laws number 148-2015 and 77-2018 are repealed.
THAT this By-Law comes into effect on the day it is adopted by Municipal Council.
READ, PASSED, AND ADOPTED IN OPEN COUNCIL THIS 20TH DAY OF APRIL 2020.