Digest: Corman Park (Rural Municipality) v 618421 Saskatchewan Ltd., 73 MPLR (5th) 1

• Date: April 26, 2018

Reported as: 2018 SKCA 29 , 73 MPLR (5th) 1

Docket Number: CA17140 , CACV 2916

Court: Court of Appeal

Date: 2018-04-26

Judges:

• Richards
• Caldwell
• Schwann

Subjects:

• Statutes � Interpretation � Municipalities Act
• Statutes � Interpretation � Municipal Board Act
• Municipal Law � Assessment � Assessment Appeal Committee � Jurisdiction

Digest: The appellant, the Rural Municipality of Corman Park (RM), as represented by the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency (SAMA), appealed the decision the Assessment Appeals Committee of the Saskatchewan Municipal Board pursuant to s. 33.1 of The Municipal Board Act. The respondent taxpayer had appealed to the Board of Revision (BOR) against the RM�s 2015 assessment of a golf course property. The BOR allowed the appeal and ordered the assessor to use a lower base land rate than had been used in that year�s assessment. SAMA appealed the BOR�s decision to the committee to reinstate the original land rate. The committee held that the BOR had erred, but was unable to determine what the rate should have been. It set aside the assessment and remitted the matter to the assessor for reassessment. It also ordered the reassessment �be subject to the usual notice and appeal process�. By that time, SAMA had confirmed the 2015 assessment roll and published it in the Saskatchewan Gazette. SAMA argued that the committee did not have the power under The Municipalities Act to order an assessor to prepare a new assessment notice or to alter the assessment roll so as to make the resulting reassessment subject to the usual appeal processes.
HELD: The appeal was granted. The court reviewed the relevant legislation as it pertained to property assessment and appeals taken therefrom. It found that when s. 241 of The Municipalities Act was read together with s. 305 and its exceptions and alongside s. 256 and s. 257 of the same Act and s. 72 of The Municipal Board Act, it was clear that once SAMA had confirmed an assessment roll, that roll was effectively fixed and was not subject to amendment or alteration. Therefore, the committee had no express authority to order an assessor to revise the assessment roll or to order a new notice of assessment once the roll had been confirmed. The committee had no jurisdiction to grant or to confer a right of appeal on a taxpayer or any other party to an assessment appeal. The court also examined whether the committee has an implied right to grant a right of appeal when it exercises its powers to set aside an assessment and to remit the matter to the assessor. It held that the jurisprudence established that the committee had no jurisdiction to confer a right of appeal, as the right was not found in The Municipalities Act or The Municipal Board Act. Further, the court reviewed the committee�s recent practice of issuing �requests for information� or �RFIs�. The committee had interpreted provisions in The Municipalities Act, the Municipal Board Act and The Public Inquiries Act, 2013 as empowering it to make the requests during the course of its appeal hearings. The court concluded that the committee did not have authority to issue RFIs in the context of an appeal against a BOR decision.

Statutes Considered:

• Cities Act, SS 2002, c C-11.1
• Municipal Board Act, SS 1988-89, c M-23.2, s 12(1)(a)
• Municipal Board Act, SS 1988-89, c M-23.2, s 12(6)
• Municipal Board Act, SS 1988-89, c M-23.2, s 16(1)
• Municipal Board Act, SS 1988-89, c M-23.2, s 20
• Municipal Board Act, SS 1988-89, c M-23.2, s 20(1)
• Municipal Board Act, SS 1988-89, c M-23.2, s 20(2)
• Municipal Board Act, SS 1988-89, c M-23.2, s 20(7)
• Municipal Board Act, SS 1988-89, c M-23.2, s 20(8)
• Municipal Board Act, SS 1988-89, c M-23.2, s 20(9)
• Municipal Board Act, SS 1988-89...