Regulations under this Act:
R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 816 Tax arrears and tax sale procedures
The Act details the authority that the Ministry of Municipal Affairs maintains in the administration of the affairs of municipal governments. Specifically, the Act references areas where the Ministry may influence municipalities, including:
(a) Municipal accounting – prescribing and regulating the system of estimates, bookkeeping and accounting to be adopted by municipalities;
(b) Municipal returns – prescribing the forms, returns, statements and information to be made and furnished by municipalities to the Ministry;
(c) Municipal audit – prescribing and regulating the system of auditing of the accounts, records, receipts and other documents relating to assets, liabilities, revenues and expenditures of the municipalities and the reports and statements to be made and furnished by municipal auditors.
The Ministry may collect, compile, analyze and record statistical information relating to the financial and other affairs of municipalities and may then publish related statistics, reports and other information that it may deem to be useful.
In general, the Act authorizes the Ministry to inquire at any time into the affairs, financial or otherwise, of a municipality or local board and to hold hearings and make such investigations or take other actions that the Ministry feels are necessary or expedient. The Ministry may take measures to effect improvement in the conduct and administration of municipal affairs and, among other things, consult with and assist by advising on proper methods of municipal administration, financing, accounting and auditing.
The Act includes a provision that addresses cases where municipalities are considered to be in a dire financial situation. Upon request by either the Ministry, the municipality’s council or by the creditors of a municipality holding at least 20 percent of the municipality’s indebtedness, the Act allows the Ministry to impart special municipal jurisdictional powers on the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). In essence, pending an investigation into the municipality’s affairs and overall financial situation, the OMB may determine that it would be desirable for both the OMB and representatives of the Ministry to take over the administration of all the affairs of the municipality and all associated local boards, including the appointment and dismissal of municipal officers and employees, the collection of revenues and payment of expenditures, the borrowing of money, the rates charged for any public utility, and the sale or disposition of assets, among other functions.
Such an arrangement may continue until the Ministry is of the opinion that the affairs of the municipality no longer require its control; the OMB will then make an order specifying a date that the OMB and Ministry shall cease to exercise jurisdiction and control over the municipality.