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Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, enacts as follows:

1(1)In this Act

“assessed value” means the value assigned to non-residential property within a business improvement area by the assessment and tax roll prepared by the Director for the purposes of the Assessment Act;(valeur fixée)

“business improvement corporation” means a corporation meeting the conditions of paragraph 3(1)(b);(corporation d’amélioration des affaires)

“council” means the council of a municipality;(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 Environment and Local Government and includes any person designated by the Minister to act on the Minister’s behalf; (Ministre)

“non-residential property” means non-residential property as defined in the Assessment Act, except(biens non résidentiels)

(a) public parking property of parking commissions, and

(b) vacant land;

“non-residential user” means an individual, body corporate, partnership, firm, society, association, syndicate or other body which is the owner, lessor or occupier of non-residential property in a business improvement area or proposed business improvement area;(usager de bien non résidentiel)

“owner” means the person in whose name real property is assessed under the Assessment Act.(propriétaire)

Non-residential user

1(2)A non-residential user who owns, leases or occupies more than one property in a business improvement area is a single non-residential user for the purposes of this Act.

Non-residential user

1(3)A non-residential user may designate a representative for any or all purposes of this Act.

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

Application of Act to rural communities

1.1This Act and any regulations under this Act apply with the necessary modifications to a rural community incorporated under section 190.072 of the Municipalities Act.

2005, c.7, s.8

By-law designating business improvement area, procedure

2(1)Upon presentation of the petition of

(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,

a council shall consider and may by by-law made in accordance with this section designate an area within the municipality to be a business improvement area.

2(2)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 municipality, once each week for two consecutive weeks, a notice setting forth

(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.

2(3)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 municipality, 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, if the proposed business improvement area were designated, together be liable to pay one-third or more of the amount to be raised by a levy.

2(4)For the purposes of subsection (3), where 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 property recovers from those to whom he leases the property the full amount that he pays in consequence of the imposition of a levy, and

(b) where a lessor leases parts of a property to different persons, that the lessor recovers from each of them in proportion to the area that each one occupies.

2(5)Where a council is precluded from making a by-law by reason of subsection (3), no 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 last publication under subsection (2).

2(6)Where a council refuses to make a by-law requested under subsection (1), no 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.

2(7)The sufficiency of any petition or objection described in this section shall be determined by the clerk of the municipality, and such determination is final.

2(8)The procedures set out in subsections (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) and (7) apply to the amendment of any 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 the thirty-first day of December of the year in which it is made.

2(9)No by-law repealing a by-law made under this section is effective before the thirty-first day of December of the year in which it is made.

2(10)No by-law establishing a business improvement area, and no amendment to such a by-law, is effective until approved by the Minister.

By-law imposing levy on non-residential property

3(1)Where

(a) a business improvement area has been designated under section 2;

(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 municipally owned land, buildings and structures in the business improvement area, with the consent of council, beyond the level ordinarily provided by the municipality within that area;

(iii) the construction, operation and maintenance of public parking facilities on municipally owned land;

(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 4; and

(d) the council has approved the budget;

the council may by by-law impose a levy on non-residential property within the business improvement area and shall notify the Minister of this action.

3(2)Subject to subsection (2.1), a levy imposed under subsection (1) shall be at a rate determined by council, not to exceed twenty cents for each one hundred dollars of assessed value.

3(2.1)For the year 2010, the rate to be used in subsection (2) shall be the rate determined under subsection 5.01(2) of the Real Property Tax Act or fixed under paragraph 5.01(3)(f) of that Act, as the case may be, and the rate shall not exceed twenty cents for each one hundred dollars of assessed value.

3(3)Where a by-law is made pursuant to subsection (1) the council may appoint a member of council to serve on the board of directors of the corporation.

2009, c.15, s.5; 2010, c.35, s.4

Budget of business improvement corporation

4(1)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.

4(2)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 municipality, disclosing

(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.

4(3)Objections to the budget may be submitted in writing to the clerk of the municipality by personal delivery not later than fifteen days after the last publication of notice pursuant to subsection (2), or by ordinary mail postmarked not later than that date.

4(4)Subsequent to 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.

4(5)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 may after fifteen days approve the budget without further notice.

4(6)No budget shall be approved if objections in writing to that budget are filed with the clerk of the municipality, 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.

4(7)Subsections 2(4) and 2(7) apply to the determination of issues arising under subsection (6).

4(8)Where 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 2 with respect to that business improvement area shall be deemed to be repealed as of the first day of January of that year.

1991, c.27, s.6

Payment of levy to business improvement corporation by Minister

5(1)Subject to subsection (5), where a council has notified the Minister that it has made a by-law imposing a levy, the Minister shall, as soon as may be after the first day of January of the year to which the by-law relates, 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.

5(2)Where the Minister has made a payment under subsection (1), the Minister of Finance, when next he mails a notice under subsection 7(2) of the Real Property Tax Act to the owner of non-residential property within the business improvement area, shall state on that notice the amount payable by the owner in respect of the levy.

5(3)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 property he owns.

5(4)The amount stated under subsection (2) to be payable by an owner, together with such sum as would, if the levy were a tax on real property under the Real Property Tax Act, be added from time to time by way of penalty, is a debt due to the Minister of Finance and is recoverable in any court of competent jurisdiction.

5(5)Where, in any calendar year, the Minister of Finance receives from payments by owners in respect of a levy a lesser amount in aggregate than the amount payable by them, the Minister shall, when he next makes a payment to the business improvement corporation under subsection (1), reduce the amount of that payment by the amount of the shortfall.

5(6)Where, in any calendar year, the Minister of Finance 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 next makes a payment to it under subsection (1).

5(7)When the Minister makes a payment under subsection (1) which is reduced in accordance with subsection (5), the debt calculated under subsection (4) ceases to be due to the Minister of Finance and becomes a debt due to the business improvement corporation and recoverable by the business improvement corporation in any court of competent jurisdiction, and the amount of that debt, until paid, continues to increase in accordance with subsection (4).

5(8)When a debt formerly due to the Minister of Finance has become a debt due to a business improvement corporation in accordance with subsection (7), the Minister of Finance shall

(a) identify to the corporation

(i) the 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 properties;

and

(b) inform the corporation of the amount which had initially been payable by the owner in respect of the levy.

5(9)A decision of the Director as to

(a) the assessed value of non-residential property,

(b) whether real property is non-residential property, or

(c) whether non-residential property lies within a business improvement area

is final.

5(10)A decision of the Minister of Finance as to any amount paid or payable to him by any owner is final.

1989, c.N-5.01, s.32

Public parking facilities within business improvement areas

6A council may enter into an agreement with a business improvement corporation to provide for the construction, operation and maintenance of public parking facilities on municipally owned land in the business improvement area; and where such agreement commits the business improvement corporation to make from the proceeds of the levy an annual contribution towards the initial cost of acquiring or developing such facilities, the 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 municipality under the agreement, notwithstanding subsections 3(1) and 4(8) and notwithstanding that the business improvement corporation may have ceased to carry on operations for any reason or may no longer be in existence.

Accountability of business improvement corporation

7(1)A business improvement corporation shall account to council

(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,

as to the expenditure of the sums received by the corporation under this Act.

7(2)Where

(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

any funds of the corporation which are not required for satisfying the legal obligations of the corporation shall be transferred to the council, to be expended for purposes for which the corporation might lawfully have used them.

Transitional provision

8A 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 any by-law by which such an area was designated.

Repeal

9The Business Improvement Areas Act, chapter B-10.1 of the Acts of New Brunswick, 1981, is repealed.

Commencement

10This Act or any provision thereof comes into force on a day to be fixed by proclamation.

N.B. This Act was proclaimed and came into force August 1, 1985.

N.B. This Act is consolidated to February 9, 2015.

B-10.2 - Business Improvement Areas Act

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