Bill PR5 explained in plain English
Bible Baptist Temple (St. Thomas) Act (Tax Relief), 2014
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 41st Parliament, 1st Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
Bill PR5 permits the City of St. Thomas to exempt and cancel property taxes for a specific parcel of land owned by the Bible Baptist Temple (St. Thomas) under certain conditions.
This Ontario bill allows the City of St. Thomas council to pass by-laws to exempt specific land owned by the Bible Baptist Temple (St. Thomas) from municipal and school property taxes. It also allows the council to cancel property taxes, including interest and penalties, that were owed for this land for the years 2008 through 2013, and any subsequent years for which the exemption applies. The exemption and tax cancellation apply only if the land is used solely by the Bible Baptist Temple (St. Thomas), the Temple is the registered owner, and the Temple is a registered charity. Local improvement rates are not affected. The bill also clarifies that any portion of the land used by another entity would not be exempt from taxes.
- Allows the City of St. Thomas council to pass by-laws to exempt the specified property from municipal property taxes, excluding local improvement rates, starting January 1, 2014.
- Allows the City of St. Thomas council to pass by-laws to cancel municipal property taxes, including interest and penalties, for the specified property for the years 2008 to 2013, and any subsequent years the exemption is in effect.
- Provides that the specified property is also exempt from school property taxes for the same periods it is exempt from municipal property taxes.
- Provides that school property taxes, including interest and penalties, are also cancelled for the same periods that municipal property taxes are cancelled.
- States that the exemptions and cancellations do not apply to any portion of the specified property that is occupied and used by an entity other than the Bible Baptist Temple (St. Thomas).
- Specifies that the exemptions and cancellations only apply if the Bible Baptist Temple (St. Thomas) occupies and uses the property solely, is the registered owner, and is a registered charity.
- The Bible Baptist Temple (St. Thomas)
- The Council of the City of St. Thomas
- Owners of property in the City of St. Thomas (in relation to potential future exemptions or cancellations)
- The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) or its equivalent in St. Thomas
- The right of the City of St. Thomas council to pass by-laws for tax exemption and cancellation for the specified property.
- The condition that the Bible Baptist Temple (St. Thomas) must be the sole occupant and user, registered owner, and a registered charity for the tax relief to apply.
- The exclusion of local improvement rates from the tax exemption and cancellation.
- The tax exemption begins on January 1, 2014.
- Taxes for the years 2008 to 2013 are eligible for cancellation.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Potential reduction in municipal property tax revenue for the City of St. Thomas for the specified property.
- Potential reduction in school property tax revenue for the Province or school board for the specified property.
- Cancellation of outstanding municipal and school property taxes, including interest and penalties, for the specified property for the years 2008-2013 and potentially later years.
- The bill does not specify new penalties but states that the exemptions and cancellations do not apply if the conditions regarding use, ownership, and charitable status are not met, meaning regular taxes would apply.
- Interest and penalties on cancelled taxes are also cancelled, provided the conditions are met.
- The bill relies on the City of St. Thomas council passing by-laws to enact the tax exemption and cancellation, meaning it is not automatic.
- The bill does not define 'local improvement rates'.
- The bill does not explicitly state who receives the municipal or school tax revenue that might be exempted or cancelled.
Section 353 of the Municipal Act, 2001, which deals with taxes collected on behalf of other bodies, will apply to taxes cancelled under this Act, with necessary changes.
Source: Section 4
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill does not have a published recorded division in the current official sources, so representative-by-representative vote counts are not shown.
No published representative vote breakdown
The current official sources do not publish a recorded division breakdown for this bill, so there is no representative-by-representative table to show.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced