Hosted by

Peter Avgoustis, CAO Ashley Bilodeau, Town Planner

14 November 2017 6pm at Heritage North

Tonight’s meeting is being held as a request of Council to review the current tax status in the Townships of Bernhardt and Morrisette.

It was scheduled to provide the members of the public with the history of annexation and the development of the subdivisions, along with an understanding of the municipal policy that has changed since 1984.

Town staff are here only to provide recommendations to Council, based on the research, policy in place at this time, and our conversations here tonight. We are not making a decision.

We are happy to hear from you, and look forward to your input, however we do expect to be respected as we run through the facts we’ve collected for the purpose of tonight’s meeting.

You will have an opportunity to speak once the presentation is complete.

Opening Remarks

1. Silence all mobile phones

2. Speak to the issue and not the individual

3. Listen to each others opinion, especially if you don’t agree with it

4. Don’t interrupt or have conversations while others are speaking

5. Don’t make accusations, threats or rude comments

6. Stay positive

7. Show respect for your fellow neighbour, citizen and townspeople

8. Remember - despite our perceived disagreements, we are all playing for team Kirkland Lake

Ground Rules

What brought us to annexation?

1945 • 99-Year leases were established with Deloye and various cottagers

1970 • Formation of Cottager’s Association

1975 • Ministry of Transportation and Communications recommended that legislation be put in place to have zoning control over areas surrounding airports

• By-law 75-72 was passed by Council to direct staff to make application to OMB for annexation of B & M.

1976 • Cottager’s needed full title to their land in order for the banks to permit mortgages • Surveyor hired to begin subdivision process

1980 • Request from Prov. Government as part of subdivision review to ensure public access to the lake. Cottager’s Association request TKL to dedicate a portion of land as road allowance for the purpose of creating “public access”. Town denies this request.

• Town requests MOH to pass a zoning order on unorganized territory to safeguard the Airport; MOH states application for annexation has been submitted, and proper direction would be to wait until annexation occurs and pass a Zoning By-law Amendment to include B & M Townships

1980 • Annexation was the necessary solution for Plan of Subdivision and safeguarding of the Airport. • By-law 80-20 annexing B and M read a first time.

1981 • By-law 80-20 annexing B and M read a second and third time.

1982 • In January, OMB orders in favour of annexation.

1983 • Application submitted to the Board for the approval of By-law 83-83, to define USA and the manner in which properties will be levied.

1984 • In April, OMB orders in favour of B & M sharing in all capital and operating costs to the extent no greater than 35%.

Goodfish Lake – Phase I

Approved by MOH prior to annexation

Road assumed by TKL after annexation

Road was never brought up to TKL standard, only Rural MOH standard

Never maintained by the TKL

Subdivision Agreements

Bernhardt Dr

Airport Rd

Harvey Dr

Bern

hard

t Dr.

Goodfish R

d

48004800

92

94

102

5041

64

484644

100

41

263438

78

74

72

70

68

66

6056 58

545250

96

98

108

17

5048

5060

26

86

82

80

62

90

106

41 2914

5077

22

84

76

Goodfish – Phase II

Approved May 29/1984

All residential roadways and drainage works to be constructed and installed in accordance with TKL requirements

Roads assumed by TKL: By-law 91-033 passed on April 2, 1991

Subdivision Agreements Bernhardt Dr

Airport Rd

Harvey Dr

Bern

hard

t Dr.

Goodfish R

d

48004800

92

94

102

5041

64

484644

100

41

263438

78

74

72

70

68

66

6056 58

545250

96

98

108

17

5048

5060

26

86

82

80

62

90

106

41 2914

22

84

76

Goodfish Area

Approved Oct. 3/1989

Harvey Drive assumed by TKL: By-law 91-033 passed on April 2, 1991

Portion of Goodfish Road assumed by TKL: By-law 92-027 passed on March 3, 1992

Subdivision Agreements

Bernhardt Dr

Airport Rd

Harvey Dr

Bern

hard

t Dr.

Goodfish R

d

NETTIE LAKE R

OAD

48004800

9294

41

5041

64

52484644

108

17

5048

263438

86

78

74

7270

6866

65

626056 58

5450

90

9698

106

41 14 5060

5077

2226

84

82

80

76

58

65

29

Nettie Lake

Approved Oct. 1/2002

No road maintenance from Airport Road

No road maintenance on internal roadways

Subdivision Approvals

Deloye Cres

Pinetree Rd

Pinetree Rd

NET

TIE

LAKE

RO

AD

SAND

Y DR

IVE

27

63

71

116

95

120

31

43

3

116

24

78

124

124

In 1978, there were only a few year round homes recorded in Bernhardt and Morrisette. There was a total of 46 cottages and 3 service clubs on Nettie Lake and 3 recorded dwellings on Goodfish Lake.

According to the 2016 MPAC, there are 51 houses assessed as “year-round” and 40 assessed as seasonal in all of Bernhardt & Morrisette.

Changing Neighbourhoods

1) Not every property owner uses every service provided by a municipality.

2) Municipal infrastructure is not equal on every street just like property values are not equal.

3) Tax burden should be applied equally to those who have access to the municipal service.

4) Where ever a municipality restricts access to a service, tax burden should be evaluated for the greater common good or correspondingly reduced.

a) Education taxes are paid equally by every property owner regardless if they have children attending school or not.

b) Special Area Ratings may be applied to properties where the municipality chooses to restricts certain services.

Principles of Equity & Fairness in Property Tax Policy

1. Properties assessed under ‘residential’ classification: 3 year-round properties in Harvey Kirkland Dr. – taxed at 100% 9 in Bernhardt – taxed at 35% 82 in Morrisette – taxed at 35% 2,179 in Teck Township (Kirkland Lake, Chaput Hughes and Swastika) – taxed at 100%

2. 91 - Bernhardt & Morrisette residents do not receive municipal curbside garbage collection,

water/sewer services and road maintenance is split between the town and local residents. Road maintenance requirement was stipulated as part of subdivision agreements.

3. 3 - Harvey Kirkland residents do not receive municipal curbside garbage collection, water/sewer services and some but not all road maintenance. No subdivision agreement is in place.

4. 7 - Properties along Goodfish Road in Teck Township, do not received water/sewer services. 5. This does not apply to commercial, industrial, forested lands, agricultural lands, multi-

residential or institutional property classifications.

Municipal Tax Policy Current Situation

1994 – Federal gov’t downloads airports across the country 1998 – Provincial gov’t - ‘Local Services Realignment’ downloading new costs:

Property Assessments (MPAC) Social Housing Land Ambulance Long-term care Social Assistance (some costs have since been uploaded since 2016) 911 services Public Health Police/OPP Secondary highways Provincial Court Administration (has been uploaded in 2016)

1999 – MPAC comes into force, standardization across the province. 2006 - Ontario Regulation 585/06 prevents public health from being area-rated 2017 – TKL removes wastewater from property tax levy

What has changed since 1984

1. Water & Sewer services are no longer paid for by property taxes but everyone who uses the

service is billed directly.

2. The current tax area rating has resulted with inadvertently having a pre-designed structural inequity of the property tax burden between Teck Township (Harvey Kirkland, Chaput Hughes, Swastika and Kirkland Lake) and Bernhardt & Morrisette Township property owners.

3. Harvey Kirkland Dr properties are inadvertently penalized even further, since they have the same deficiency in municipal services but are taxed at 100%

4. Goodfish Rd residents on the Teck Township side get taxed at 100% and do get curbside garbage, (our truck turns around) however, they have every other characteristics as their neighbours meters down the road in Morrisette who are taxed at 35%.

Current situation cont’d

Your property value X (the municipal tax rate + education rate)

MPAC determines property values

Municipal tax rate is calculated by what revenue the town needs to raise to fund all programs and services it provides.

Education rate is set by the Province. (whether you have children in school or not, everyone pays this portion)

Recap of How Property Taxes are calculated

In addition to the municipal tax rate area set by council, MPAC assesses some 200 factors for each property but also provides site-access adjustments as follows:

No Access = - 75% applied to the total property value

Private Access = - 10% applied to the total property value

Right-of-Way Access = - 10% applied to the total property value

Seasonal Access = - 10% applied to the total property value

Water Access = - 37% applied to the total property value

Island Access = - 37% applied to the total property value

Source: Market Valuation Report Residential Properties - Rural Timmins Area, pg. 17

Homeowners can log on to their MPAC Account and get copy of the Report

MPAC Policy current situation

Roads (as per MPAC ratings) Bernhardt Township Morrisette Township

Residential (not on water) 0 11

Harvey Dr 0 7

Goodfish Rd 0 3

Airport Rd 0 1

Single Detached on Water 9 30

Bernhardt Dr 9 (Goodfish Lake) 19 (Goodfish Lake)

Pinetree Rd 0 10 (Nettie Lake)

Deloye Cres 0 1 (Nettie Lake)

Mobile Home 0 1

Airport Road 0 1

Residential MPAC Breakdown

Roads (as per MPAC rating) Bernhardt Township Morrisette Township

Seasonal Dwelling on water 0 39

Bernhardt Dr 0 1 (Goodfish Lake)

Pinetree Rd 0 6 (Nettie Lake)

Deloye Cres 0 4 (Nettie Lake)

Sandy Dr 0 18 (Nettie Lake)

Public Right of Way 0 4 (Nettie Lake)

Water Access Only 0 1 (Nettie Lake)

Other (private access) 0 5 (Joyce, Dorothy, Lawgraves)

Campground 0 1

Public Right of Way 0 1 (Nettie Lake)

TOTAL Developed Properties (both pages)

9 82

Residential MPAC Breakdown

1. Does the municipal reduced taxed area + the MPAC assessment site-access reductions on some properties offer a double-credit advantage to some of the Bernhardt & Morrisette properties compared to all other properties both within Bernhardt & Morrisette and all of Teck?

2. What municipal services does the municipality deny/restrict property owners of Harvey Kirkland Dr, Bernhardt & Morrisette that should warrant a special rate?

Equity & Fairness question to consider

Town Council By-law Enforcement Animal Control Building Permits & Inspections Airport Landfill Public Health Cemetery Social & Family Services Social Housing Parks Recreation Library Museum Heritage North Tourism Planning, zoning & development MPAC Police Ambulance Fire

All roads, sidewalks, parking lots, parking, crosswalks, traffic lights located in Teck Township Not available: Curbside garbage collection & some road maintenance (next slide)

List of Municipal Services available to Harvey Kirkland Dr, Bernhardt & Morrisette

Breakdown of all municipal owned roads in Bernhardt & Morrisette Townships

Road Total km / residential assessed

% municipal costs responsibility

% local residents costs responsibility

Airport Rd 1.06 / 2 res 100% (1.06 km) N/A

Goodfish Rd 1.91 / 3 res 100% (1.91 km) N/A

Harvey Dr. 0.80 / 7 res 100% (0.80 km) N/A

Bernhardt Dr. 1.50 / 29 res 29.3% (0.44 km) 70.6% (1.06 km)

Nettie Lake Rd 1.72 / 0 res N/A 100% (1.72 km)

Pinetree Rd 1.20 / 16 res N/A 100% (1.20 km)

Deloye Cres 0.29 / 5 res N/A 100% (0.29 km)

Sandy Dr. 1.50 / 18 res + 1 island N/A 100% (1.50 km)

Public Right-of-Way Unknown / 5 res N/A (not owned by town) 100%

Other Unknown / 5 res N/A (not owned by town) 100%

TOTAL 9.98 km / 91 res 42.1 % (4.21 km) 57.9% (5.77 km)

*Approximate measurements.

Residential properties in Harvey Kirkland Dr, Bernhardt and Morrisette do face costs when the municipality restricts/denies them services, and these include:

1. Property fire insurance premiums are higher due to the lack of municipal fire hydrants.

(this applies to some other properties in town in addition to the Goodfish Rd – Teck side)

2. Curbside garbage collection is not provided by the municipality.

3. Road maintenance for some of the public roads around Goodfish Lake and all around Nettie Lake is not provided by the municipality as was agreed to in subdivision agreement.

4. Harvey Kirkland Dr has no subdivision agreement, but some of the road is not maintained by municipality.

Harvey Kirkland, Bernhardt & Morrisette current situation

1. Are there any roads in Teck Township without traffic lights, traffic signs, crosswalks, parking lots, or marked parking spots?

2. Are there any roads in Teck Township without street lighting?

3. Are there any roads in Teck Township unpaved?

4. Are there any roads in Teck Township without sidewalks?

5. Are there any roads in Teck Township as private access?

6. Any by-laws that the municipality restricts/denies road access located in Teck Township to residents of Bernhardt & Morrisette?

Determining unique municipal characteristics?

7. Are there any properties in Teck Township without sanitary sewer?

8. Are there any properties in Teck Township without water/fire hydrant services?

9. Do Teck Township owners have an issue with the amount of property taxes they pay, or is it only an issue with owners in Bernhardt & Morrisette?

10. Are there any pensioners, low-income, widows, or families with small children in Teck Township who are stressed about their property taxes or do they only live in Bernhardt and Morrisette?

11. Is there something uniquely different in Bernhardt & Morrisette that doesn’t exist in Teck Township when it comes to municipal services that should warrant a special rate?

Determining unique municipal characteristics?

Downloaded costs coupled with changes to the Municipal Act and education funding were never anticipated back in 1984.

Revenue neutral for the Town. Town does not collect more taxes, however the tax burden is shifted to be more equitable and fair to all properties.

Tax area ratings should not offer a double-credit to some property owners and/or should not be used for addressing property assessment pressures.

Tax area ratings should only consider what is truly a unique, special or restricted municipal service denied to a certain geographic area. All other services that are available throughout the municipality should be treated as a common public good, no different than the education tax, regardless if one chooses to use it or not.

Special Area Rating - Tax Rate Policy

Municipal records indicate updating the agreement has been requested from the town administration repeatedly since 1990.

1990 – CAO Sherratt asks for updating of agreement

1995 – CAO Gary Shay asks council to review agreement

1997 – CAO Gary Shay asks council to update agreement

1998 – Lawyer Murray Ellies’ opinion for the need to update agreement

2004 – internal documents regarding burden pressures

2009 – internal documents regarding burden pressures

2016 – KMPG report identifies removing wastewater from levy

2017 – May - Council approves a 5% increase to tax rate (subsequently reversed)

2017 – Oct – Council approves staff request to hold public meeting (today)

Why now, is this something new?

Municipal Act, 2001 gives town council sole discretion and authority to remove 1984 OMB by-law, and/or create a special tax area rating.

Under Municipal Act, 2001 - No appeal - OMB has no jurisdiction

Under Municipal Act, 2001 – No external costing of services required, council has authority to determine costs and rates.

Changes can be phased-in over multiple years.

Regardless who pays for road maintenance, Town may be held liable to any litigation involving accidents/claims for all approved subdivision roads and municipal owned roads.

Legal Opinion Provided to Town

Suggested phased-in with increments capped between 5-10% per year for both sides*

*Bernhardt & Morrisette residents will have an increase and Teck Township residents will have a decrease.

Suggested phase-in should take between 7-13 years depending on annual cap.

How would a tax change work?

1. Public Health costs are currently going against the Municipal Act and should have been updated in 2006.

2. Town is ultimately liable for municipal roads so this exposes the whole Corporation to risk - however cost of risk is proportionately funded by using the existing tax area ratings calculation.

3. Town already maintains & pays for approximately 42% of the municipal roads in Bernhardt & Morrisette.

4. Do MPAC adjustments offer a double credit to areas with a lower tax rate?

5. How does one explain the inequity for Goodfish Rd – Teck side owners which get curbside collection for a 65% difference in their property taxes from their neighbours meters down the road who don’t but yet share all other characteristics?

6. How does one explain the inequity for Harvey Krikland Dr owners to be penalized for not getting the same services as Bernhardt & Morrisette but pay 100% of the tax rate?

Factors to weigh in making recommendation

7. How does one explain the inequity in Nettie Lake and Goodfish Lake owners paying out of pocket for road maintenance, when the town approved the subdivision plans?

8. How does one explain the inequity for owners in Bernhardt, Morrisette and Harvey Kirkland not getting curbside collection?

9. How does one explain the inequity for Nettie Lake and Goodfish Lake owners to continue to live on roads that are not to TKL standards?

10. Why has an annexation that was originally requested by seasonal cottage owners so they can have title to their deed some 40 so years ago, not been updated when the dwelling make up has changed, and there has been repeated requests from town administration?

11. Why has the town allowed there to be a divide between neighbours and the different taxes they pay when the overwhelming majority of municipal services are available to all?

Factors to weigh in making recommendation

1. Do nothing, continue with status quo.

2. Hire and pay for an independent consultant to do a study.

3. Put a question on the ballot on next years election, and after 40 years of this issue let the people have their say directly.

4. Consider the recommendation that the town staff ends up suggesting.

5. Other.

Options available to Council

1. How should the town come into compliance with Municipal Act for Public Health costs?

2. How should the town address Harvey Kirkland Drive?

3. How should the town address the neighbours living on Goodfish Rd in Teck who are taxed at 100% just meters from the ones living on Goodfish Rd in Morrisette who are taxed at 35%?

4. What is the appropriate way to handle the risk associated with all municipal-owned roads across Bernhardt & Morrisette Townships when some roads are currently not to TKL standard?

5. What is the appropriate way to handle curbside collection across Bernhardt & Morrisette?

6. What is an equitable and consistent approach to tax properties throughout the entire municipality regardless of geography?

7. Why shouldn’t the municipal tax rate be treated the same as the education tax rate? (It is currently set up like this in Teck Township)

Questions for the Audience

Goodfish Lake

1 cm:5000 cm

Bernhardt/Morrisette and Teck Townships1:5000 scale

WO 1713Planning Division

November 14, 2017±Legend

Parcel Fabric RoadsLakes

Goodfish Lake

Nettie Lake

Lancaster Lake

Joyce Lake

Seely Lake

Lawgraves Lake

Amikougami Lake

Dorothy Lake

Rathwell Lake

Dorah Lake

Midget Lake

Edwards Lake

Emms Lake

Greyvala Lake

Bernhardt & Morrisette TownshipsTax rate set at 35%

±

0 1,000Meters

WO 1713Planning Division

November 7, 2017

LEGEND

Parcel FabricRoadsLakesAirport Runway

MPAC ClassificationCROWNTKL100, 101, 110 - Vacant Residential301, 313 - Residential (not on water); 313 - Single Family detached on water - year round residence381 - Mobile home (not a mobile home park operation)391 - Seasonal/recreational dwelling - first tier on water

Goodfish Lake

Nettie LakeRathwell LakeMidget Lake

Bernhardt & Morrisette TownshipsRoad Maintenance

±

0 1,000Meters

WO 1713Planning Division

November 14, 2017

Road MaintenanceMaintainedUnmaintained

LegendParcel FabricLakesAirport Runway

Pollock Ave

Earl S

tPrince St Ba

ron StRand Ave West

Harvey KirklandOwnership

±

0 200Meters

WO 1713Planning Division

November 7, 2017

Teck

Town

ship

Lebe

l Tow

nship

LegendParcel FabricTown of Kirkland LakeCrown

PrivateLakesRoads