The following definitions apply in this Act. 1985, c.B-10.2, ss.1(1); 1986, c.8, s.18; 1989, c.55, s.23; 1989, c.N-5.01, s.32; 1992, c.2, s.9; 1998, c.41, s.15; 2000, c.26, s.31; 2006, c.16, s.17; 2012, c.39, s.22; 2017, c.20, s.13; 2019, c.11, s.6; 2020, c.25, s.16; 2023, c.40, s.9
“assessed value” means the value assigned to non-residential property within a business improvement area by the real property assessment list prepared by the Director for the purposes of the Assessment Act.(valeur fixée)
“business improvement corporation” means a corporation meeting the conditions of paragraph 5(1)(b).(société d’amélioration des affaires)
“council” means the council of a local government.(conseil)
“Director” means the Executive Director of Assessment under the Assessment Act.(directeur)
“lessor” includes a grantor of a licence.(bailleur)
“levy” means a business improvement levy imposed under this Act.(contribution)
“Minister” means the Minister of Local Government and includes any person designated by the Minister to act on the Minister’s behalf.(ministre)
“owner” means the person in whose name real property is assessed under the Assessment Act.(propriétaire)
1985, c.B-10.2, ss.1(2), (3)
A non-residential user who owns, leases or occupies more than one non-residential property in a business improvement area is a single non-residential user for the purposes of this Act.
A non-residential user may designate a representative for any or all purposes of this Act.
Repealed: 2017, c.20, s.13 2017, c.20, s.13Repealed: 2017, c.20, s.13 2005, c.7, s.8; 2017, c.20, s.13
1985, c.B-10.2, s.2; 2017, c.20, s.13
A council shall consider a petition and may designate, by a by-law made in accordance with this section, an area within the local government to be a business improvement area when a petition is presented by either of the following groups:
(a) five or more non-residential users; or
(b) the board of directors of a business improvement corporation with at least five members who are non-residential users.
Before a by-law referred to in subsection (1) is made, the council shall cause to be published in a newspaper having general circulation in the local government, once each week for two consecutive weeks, a notice setting out the following information:
(a) the contents of the proposed by-law; and
(b) the date, time and place at which objections to the proposed by-law will be heard.
No by-law referred to in subsection (1) shall be made if, not later than the date set for the hearing of objections under subsection (2), objections in writing are filed with the clerk of the local government, jointly or independently, by one-third or more of all non-residential users or by non-residential users who, in the clerk’s opinion, together would be liable to pay one-third or more of the amount to be raised by a levy if the proposed business improvement area were designated.
For the purposes of subsection (3), when one non-residential user recovers from another, through payments for rent or otherwise, an amount payable in consequence of the imposition of a levy, the latter, to the exclusion of the former, shall be considered liable to pay that amount, and, unless the contrary is shown, the clerk may assume
(a) that every lessor of non-residential property recovers from those to whom the lessor leases the non-residential property the full amount that the lessor pays in consequence of the imposition of a levy, and
(b) if a lessor leases parts of a non-residential property to different persons, that the lessor recovers from each of them in proportion to the area that each one occupies.
If a council refuses to make a by-law requested under subsection (1), no non-residential property within the proposed business improvement area is subject to a by-law subsequently made under this section before one year has elapsed from the date of the decision of council.
The sufficiency of a petition or objection described in this section shall be determined by the clerk of the local government, and that determination is final.
The procedures set out in subsections (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) and (7) apply to the amendment of a by-law made under this section, but not to the repeal of a by-law, and no amendment altering the boundaries of a business improvement area is effective before December 31 of the year in which it is made.
No by-law repealing a by-law made under this section is effective before December 31 of the year in which it is made.
No by-law establishing a business improvement area, and no amendment to that by-law, is effective until approved by the Minister.
1985, c.B-10.2, s.3; 2009, c.15, s.5; 2010, c.35, s.4; 2017, c.20, s.13
A council may by by-law impose a levy on non-residential property within a business improvement area and shall notify the Minister of this action if:
(a) the business improvement area has been designated under section 4;
(b) a non-trading corporation, the membership of which is open to all non-residential users and the constitution of which provides for an appointment referred to in subsection (3), has been incorporated for any or all of the following purposes:
(i) the promotion of the business improvement area as a business or shopping area;
(ii) the improvement, enhancement, beautification and maintenance of local government-owned land, buildings and structures in the business improvement area, with the consent of council, beyond the level ordinarily provided by the local government within that area;
(iii) the construction, operation and maintenance of public parking facilities on local government-owned land; and
(iv) the maintenance of an administrative structure capable of carrying out the programs of the corporation within the business improvement area;
(c) the board of directors of that corporation has submitted a budget in accordance with section 6; and
(d) the council has approved the budget.
A levy imposed under subsection (1) shall be at a rate determined by council and shall not exceed $0.20 for each $100 of assessed value.
If a by-law is made under subsection (1), the council may appoint a member of council to serve on the board of directors of the corporation.
1985, c.B-10.2, s.4; 1991, c.27, s.6; 2017, c.20, s.13
With the approval of the majority of the members present at a special general meeting held for that purpose, the board of directors of a business improvement corporation may submit to council, at the time and in the form prescribed by council, a budget of projected expenditures for any calendar year.
A council shall not approve a budget unless it gives notice, published at least once weekly for two weeks in a newspaper having general circulation within the local government, disclosing the following information:
(a) its intention to approve the budget;
(b) the extent of the levy needed to implement the budget; and
(c) the period during which objections may be made.
Objections to the budget may be submitted in writing to the clerk of the local government by personal delivery not later than 15 days after the last publication of notice under subsection (2) or by ordinary mail postmarked not later than that date.
After the final date for submitting objections to the budget, a council may require the board of directors of the business improvement corporation to convene a general meeting of non-residential users to consider the budget.
Subject to subsection (6), if two-thirds of the non-residential users in attendance at the general meeting approve the budget, or a revised budget, and the board of directors submits the approved budget to council, council, after 15 days, may approve the budget without further notice.
No budget shall be approved if objections in writing to that budget are filed with the clerk of the local government, jointly or independently, by one-third or more of all non-residential users or by non-residential users who, in the clerk’s opinion, would together be liable to pay one-third or more of the amount to be raised by a levy.
If the council does not approve a budget for any year, no levy shall be imposed in that year and the by-law made under section 4 with respect to that business improvement area shall be deemed to be repealed as of January 1 of that year.
1985, c.B-10.2, s.5; 1989, c.N-5.01, s.32; 2019, c.29, s.19
Subject to subsection (5), when a council has notified the Minister that it has made a by-law imposing a levy, as soon as possible after January 1 of the year to which the by-law relates, the Minister shall pay to the business improvement corporation, to be expended for the purposes set out in its budget for that year, an amount equal to the total amount which will be payable by owners in respect of the levy.
When the Minister has made a payment under subsection (1), the next notice mailed by the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board under subsection 7(2) of the Real Property Tax Act to an owner of non-residential property within the business improvement area shall state the amount payable by the owner in respect of the levy.
The amount payable by an owner in respect of the levy shall be calculated by multiplying the rate of the levy by the assessed value of the non-residential property of the owner.
The sum of the following is a debt due to the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board and is recoverable in a court of competent jurisdiction:
(a) the amount stated under subsection (2) to be payable by an owner; and
(b) the amount that, if the levy were a tax on real property under the Real Property Tax Act, would be added by way of penalty.
In a calendar year, if the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board receives from payments by owners in respect of a levy a lesser amount in aggregate than the amount payable by them, the Minister, when he or she next makes a payment to the business improvement corporation under subsection (1), shall reduce the amount of that payment by the amount of the shortfall.
In a calendar year, if the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board receives from payments by owners in respect of a levy a greater amount in aggregate than the amount that the levy was calculated to raise, the Minister shall pay the excess to the business improvement corporation when he or she next makes a payment to it under subsection (1).
When the Minister makes a payment under subsection (1) that has been reduced under subsection (5), the debt calculated under subsection (4) ceases to be due to the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board and becomes a debt due to the business improvement corporation and recoverable by the business improvement corporation in a court of competent jurisdiction, and the amount of that debt, until paid, continues to increase in accordance with subsection (4).
When a debt formerly due to the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board has become a debt due to a business improvement corporation under subsection (7), the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board shall do the following:
(a) identify to the corporation
(i) the non-residential properties in relation to which the payment due in respect of the levy has not been received, and
(ii) the names of the owners of those non-residential properties; and
(b) inform the corporation of the amount that had initially been payable by the owner in respect of the levy.
A decision of the Director respecting the following matters is final:
(a) the assessed value of non-residential property;
(b) whether real property is non-residential property; and
(c) whether non-residential property lies within a business improvement area.
A decision of the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board respecting an amount paid or payable to him or her by an owner is final.
1985, c.B-10.2, s.6; 2017, c.20, s.13
A council may enter into an agreement with a business improvement corporation to provide for the construction, operation and maintenance of public parking facilities on local government-owned land in the business improvement area.
If an agreement under subsection (1) commits a business improvement corporation to make, from the proceeds of the levy, an annual contribution towards the initial cost of acquiring or developing the facilities, a council may by by-law impose a levy on non-residential property within the business improvement area in each year of the agreement in order to raise money payable to the local government under the agreement, despite subsections 5(1) and 6(8) and despite that the corporation may have ceased to carry on operations for any reason or may no longer be in existence.
1985, c.B-10.2, s.7
A business improvement corporation shall account to council with respect to the expenditure of the sums received by the corporation under this Act as follows:
(a) within three months after the end of the year for which the levy was imposed; and
(b) at any other time when requested by the council.
The funds of a business improvement corporation that are not required for satisfying the legal obligations of the corporation shall be transferred to the council in the following circumstances:
(a) a business improvement corporation ceases to exist or to carry on operations; or
(b) a by-law designating a business improvement area is repealed.
Funds transferred to a council under subsection (2) are to be expended for those purposes for which the business improvement corporation might lawfully have used them.
A business improvement area designated under the Business Improvement Areas Act, chapter B-10.1 of the Acts of New Brunswick, 1981, is a business improvement area for the purpose of this Act, and this Act applies to the amendment and repeal of a by-law by which an area was designated. 1985, c.B-10.2, s.8