2024 August

Tax Collection and Enforcement

Tax collection and enforcement must be completed according to authority set out in legislation. The Tax Enforcement Act (TEA) and its Regulations prescribes a method of tax enforcement that can ultimately lead to the municipality taking title to a person’s property due to tax arrears.

The first step of tax enforcement under the TEA is for the administrator to present, in duplicate, a list of lands in arrears to the head of council (mayor or reeve) on or before November 15. This list must also be posted in the municipal office and advertised in a local newspaper.

The Advisory Services and Municipal Relations branch has several resources to assist municipal officials when proceeding with tax enforcement under the TEA. The Tax Enforcement Procedures Manual is a great resource to utilize when navigating through the various steps and timelines of tax enforcement, as outlined in Tax Enforcement Flow Chart. Other available resources include a Citizens Guide to Tax Enforcement, sample forms, and process charts for regular and expedited procedures that can found on the Municipal Tax Enforcement webpage.

Each phase of tax enforcement has required duties for the administrator to carry out with council having a limited role. Depending on the time it takes for each required step to be completed, it can take two years or longer to complete tax enforcement under the TEA.

The Municipalities Act, The Cities Act and The Northern Municipalities Act, 2010 also provide other methods of enforcing the payment of taxes. All three municipal statutes provide non-title opportunities, including (but not limited to):

• Suing the taxpayer;
• Intercepting rent from a tenant to an owner who has unpaid property taxes; or
• Intercepting insurance proceeds in the event a building is damaged or destroyed.

Council needs to decide which option they will use to enforce the payment of their taxes. They may proceed to acquiring title to the property under the TEA. At the same time, they may pursue other options.

For additional questions regarding municipal tax enforcement legislation, please contact a municipal advisor at 306-787-2680 or by email at muninfo@gov.sk.ca.

Amendments to Municipal Acts and Regulations

This spring, with the passing of Bill 153, the following three acts were amended:

• The Cities Act
• The Municipalities Act
• The Northern Municipalities Act, 2010

The amendments improved key areas related to assessment appeals, conducting electronic meetings and improved existing processes to ensure consistency across all three acts. Additional changes were made to the regulations for each Act and were passed through Orders in Council 365/2024, 366/2024 and 367/2024 on July 11, 2024.

To view a summary of the legislative changes, download the information bulletins below:

• Information Bulletin: Amendments to The Cities Act and Regulations (Bill 153)
• Information Bulletin: Amendments to The Municipalities Act and Regulations (Bill 153)
• Information Bulletin: Amendments to The Northern Municipalities Act, 2010 and Regulations (Bill 153)

When legislative changes occur, it is important to ensure you are viewing the most recent legislation. To download copies of the updated versions of the consolidated acts and regulations, visit the Publications Centre.

Municipalities that must submit 2023 public reporting on municipal waterworks to the Ministry of Government Relations must do so by the deadline of September 1. Emails were sent to each of these municipalities in July 2024, along with a link to the online questionnaire and instructions for filling it out.

Amendments to the three municipal regulations (The Municipalities Regulations, The Cities Regulations, and The Northern Municipalities Regulations) changed some waterworks reporting requirements. Detailed information on the changes can be reviewed in the Fact Sheet on Waterworks Provisions, which was also emailed to municipalities. The key changes are as follows:

• Instead of submitting copies of the information provided to consumers, the municipality must submit to the ministry a declaration that this information was provided to consumers, which is in the form of a question in the questionnaire.
• Municipalities continue to be required to make certain information available for public inspection and notify consumers about their availability. However, if the most recent engineer assessment, the capital plan, the sources of funding, and the current agreements respecting the provision of municipal waterworks do not apply to the waterworks, the notice should include a statement providing a reason why that is the case.
• The Ministry of Government Relations continues to require municipalities to provide financial information related to waterworks reporting. However, the term “expenditures” has been replaced by “expenses” in the regulations, and “debt payments” have been removed from the formula to calculate the revenues to expenses-ratio.

The waterworks data is being collected to assess sustainability and improve transparency.

Failure to submit the information may affect eligibility to access funding under the Municipal Revenue Sharing program.

If you have any questions, please contact the financial management unit at the Ministry of Government Relations via email at waterworks@gov.sk.ca or phone at 306-787-8859 or 306-787-2655.

On May 17, 2024, The Building Code Regulations were published with revisions to the amendments of the National Building Code of Canada 2020 edition located in the Appendix. These revisions harmonize the intent for application of construction codes throughout Saskatchewan.

Visit the Publications Centre to access the most recent version of The Building Code Regulations.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding these changes, please contact Building and Technical Standards at 306-787-4113 or btstandards@gov.sk.ca.

Ahead of the upcoming provincial election, municipalities and other organizations are reminded of the requirements for infrastructure signage under The Election Act, 1996 in Saskatchewan.

Physical infrastructure construction signs using the Government of Saskatchewan logo or referencing the provincial government must either be covered or taken down on the day the writ drops.

After the writ drops, no new digital infrastructure promotion using the Government of Saskatchewan logo or referencing the provincial government may be posted on websites, social media or other online platforms. Existing digital promotion may remain but can't be altered.

Saskatchewan's provincial election is anticipated to occur on October 28, 2024. A provincial news release will be issued to alert all residents when the writ is dropped and the election date is confirmed.

These infrastructure signage requirements remain in effect until the day after the provincial election.

The Department of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada, formerly Infrastructure Canada, is pleased to announce the launch of a third application intake for their Green and Inclusive Community Buildings (GICB) program.

The GICB program aims to build new community buildings in areas with populations experiencing higher needs, and improve the quality and resilience of existing buildings, making them more energy efficient and more open and accessible. Please consult the GICB Applicant Guide for full program information.

In 2020, the Government of Canada announced up to $1.5 billion in federal funding to establish the GICB program. On April 16, 2024, Budget 2024 provided a $500 million top-up to the existing program and extended it to 2029.

• On August 1, 2024, the program will accept applications for small and medium retrofit projects with total eligible costs ranging from $100,000 to $2,999,999.
• On September 4, 2024, the program will accept applications for large retrofit and new build projects with total eligible costs ranging from $3 million to $25 million.

The deadline to apply under each stream of the program is October 16, 2024, at 3 p.m., Eastern Time.

If you do not already have an online account with the federal government’s GICB program, you must complete the Applicant Registration Form. Then, starting on the launch date for your project stream, apply online by logging into the Applicant Portal using your new (or existing) username and password.

Please note: the applicant portal will only be available on the launch dates for your project streams.

You can also register for one of the federal government’s upcoming live webinars to learn more about the program’s requirements. Visit the GICB website for more details and to register for an English or French webinar. Space is limited, so register early!

If you have any questions about the GICB program, email gicbp-pbcvi@infc.gc.ca.

The federal Housing Needs Assessment template is now published and available from the Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (formerly Infrastructure Canada) website.

Communities are encouraged to visit the webpage to learn more about the Housing Needs Assessment requirement and to view the template. Communities with populations of 30,000 or greater may also request a template pre-populated with publicly available data by emailing hna.secretariat-secretariat.ebml@infc.gc.ca.

A completed federal Housing Needs Assessment may be a requirement to access federal funding under future programs.

Submit your election results to the ministry as soon as possible following your municipal election.

Results are to be submitted electronically using the Municipal Elections Result Form.

You will also need to review and update your record in the Municipal Directory System.