BILL NO. 92

(as introduced)

2nd Session, 62nd General Assembly
Nova Scotia
64 Elizabeth II, 2015

Private Member's Bill

Municipal Restructuring Act

The Honourable Jamie Baillie
Cumberland South

First Reading: April 20, 2015

(Explanatory Notes)

Second Reading:

Third Reading:

Clause 2 requires public consultation prior to a municipality making an application to restructure a municipality by amalgamation, annexation or dissolution of a town.

Be it enacted by the Governor and Assembly as follows:

1 This Act may be cited as the Municipal Restructuring Act.

2 Chapter 18 of the Acts of 1998, the Municipal Government Act, is amended by adding immediately after Section 357 the following Section:

357A (1) In this Section, "restructuring application" means an application made to the Board by a municipality that could result in an order from the Board

(a) amalgamating two or more municipalities;

(b) annexing the whole or any part of a municipality to another; or

(c) dissolving a town.

(2) Any municipality that intends to make a restructuring application shall, before making the application,

(a) publish a notice of the proposed application at least once each week for two successive weeks in a newspaper circulating in the municipality; and

(b) personally deliver, or send by ordinary mail, a copy of the notice to

(i) each person assessed on the last assessment roll with respect to land located in the area within the municipality that could be affected by the proposed application, and

(ii) the council of any other municipality that could be affected by the proposed application.

(3) The notice must

(a) include a map and a description of the proposed application and a brief explanation of the reasons for it, and indicate where and when the proposed application may be examined by any interested person;

(b) contain a statement that any person may, within four weeks from the last publication of the notice, file a written objection to the proposed application with the municipality, stating clearly the reasons why he or she is opposed to it; and

(c) set out the date, time and place at which a public meeting will be held, which date must be at least one week after the day on which the notice is last published, delivered or sent.

(4) The municipality shall conduct the public meeting advertised in the notice.

(5) The most recent audited financial statements of the municipality, the proposed application and all information required to be submitted with the proposed application pursuant to this Act must be made available at the public meeting.

(6) The municipality shall ensure that all persons who wish to make representations relevant to the proposed application are heard at the public meeting, and that minutes of the public meeting are recorded.

(7) When filing the restructuring application with the Board, the municipality also shall file

(a) copies of the notices of the public meeting, indicating the dates the notices were published or delivered;

(b) copies of any written objections to the proposed application received by the required date or at the public meeting;

(c) the minutes of the public meeting; and

(d) the most recent audited financial statements of the municipality.