Section 270 of the Municipal Act requires that all municipalities and their local boards must adopt and maintain a policy for the sale and other disposition of land.
The purpose of this report is to update the processes and procedures of real property management so it aligns better with industry best practices and meets the City of Belleville’s need to conduct more complex real property transactions on a consistent, timely and transparent basis.
The proposed refines the process for the execution of all real property transactions and clearly outlines the City’s preference to purchase or dispose of real property for the provision of services to the public. The proposed Procedure Bylaw and Application Form will ensure that all real property transactions will be conducted in a manner that is transparent and financially prudent while minimizing risk to the City of Belleville.
These principles to ensure that:
- The City’s preference to acquire or dispose of real property for the provision of services to the public is clearly outlined
- The process for property classification and valuation of City property is outlined
- Appropriate delegation has been assigned
- Costs for staff time and resources are recovered with a streamlined process to improve customer service
Staff reviewed the real property fee structures of neighbouring and similar municipalities to determine a fair administration charge to recover staff time and processing costs relating to these types of requests.
From the chart below, the City of Belleville aligns with the City of Kawartha Lakes in types of requests and processing times. A proposed processing fee of $135.00 + HST would appear to be appropriate
