Bill PR42 explained in plain English
Luso Canadian Charitable Society Act (Tax Relief), 2024
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 43rd 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
This private Act allows the City of Hamilton to exempt a specific property owned by the Luso Canadian Charitable Society from municipal and school taxes when used for disabilities services, and to cancel certain back taxes.
Bill PR42 is a private Act that creates a special tax exemption for one specific property in Hamilton. The Luso Canadian Charitable Society owns land at 922 Main Street East in Hamilton and is building a facility to provide services to people living with physical or developmental disabilities. This Act lets the City of Hamilton's council pass by-laws to: 1. Exempt this property from municipal and school taxes (starting January 1, 2024) while it is used for not-for-profit disability services and residential accommodation 2. Cancel municipal and school taxes that were owed on this property from February 28, 2023 to December 31, 2023, plus any taxes levied after the exemption starts The exemption applies only if the property is owned by the Luso Canadian Charitable Society, used solely by them or jointly with other not-for-profit organizations that would normally be exempt from taxes, and used for the stated disability services purposes. The Act does not affect taxes on any portion of the property used by entities that are not eligible for tax exemption. The Act came into force on April 25, 2024, when it received Royal Assent.
- Authorizes the City of Hamilton to pass a by-law exempting the Luso Canadian Charitable Society's property at 922 Main Street East, Hamilton (assessment roll number 2518 030 254 05280 0000) from municipal taxation (other than local improvement rates) beginning January 1, 2024
- Authorizes the City of Hamilton to pass a by-law cancelling municipal taxes, interest, and penalties on the specified property for the period February 28, 2023 to December 31, 2023, and for any year or part of a year to which the exemption applies
- Exempts the specified property from school taxation for any period it is exempt from municipal taxation
- Authorizes cancellation of school taxes, interest, and penalties on the specified property for periods corresponding to when municipal taxes are cancelled
- Limits the tax exemption and cancellation to situations where the property is owned by the Luso Canadian Charitable Society, used for not-for-profit disability services and residential accommodation, and the Society is a registered charity
- Clarifies that portions of the property used by non-exempt entities do not receive tax exemptions or cancellations
- The Luso Canadian Charitable Society - receives tax exemptions and tax cancellation benefits for its property used for disability services
- The City of Hamilton - gains authority (but not obligation) to pass by-laws granting the tax exemptions and cancellations
- People living with physical or developmental disabilities - may benefit from the not-for-profit day services and residential accommodation to be provided in the facility
- Other not-for-profit entities - may jointly occupy and use the property while maintaining their own tax exemption status
- Taxpayers in Hamilton - may be indirectly affected if the City passes the by-laws, as the exempted property will not contribute to the municipal and school tax base
- The City of Hamilton has the discretionary right (not an obligation) to pass by-laws granting the tax exemption and tax cancellations
- The Luso Canadian Charitable Society must remain the registered owner of the specified property for the exemption to apply
- The property must be used solely by the Luso Canadian Charitable Society or jointly with other eligible not-for-profit entities
- The property must be operated for developing a facility and providing not-for-profit day services and residential accommodation for people with physical or developmental disabilities
- The Luso Canadian Charitable Society must maintain its status as a registered charity under the federal Income Tax Act
- Local improvement rates on the property are not affected by this Act and remain taxable
- January 1, 2024 - The date from which the tax exemption may begin (if the City of Hamilton passes the required by-law)
- February 28, 2023 - Start date of the period for which back taxes may be cancelled
- December 31, 2023 - End date of the back tax cancellation period
- April 25, 2024 - Royal Assent date (when the Act came into force)
- The City of Hamilton may forgive municipal taxes on the specified property for the period February 28, 2023 to December 31, 2023, the amount of which is not specified in the Act
- The City of Hamilton may forgive school taxes on the specified property for the period February 28, 2023 to December 31, 2023, the amount of which is not specified in the Act
- Future municipal and school tax revenue from the specified property will be lost while the exemption applies (amount not specified)
- Interest and penalties on the cancelled taxes will also be cancelled (amounts not specified)
- The Act grants discretionary authority to the City of Hamilton to pass the by-laws - there is no guarantee that the City will actually do so
- The bill text does not specify the total amount of back taxes or ongoing tax revenue that would be affected
- The bill does not specify what constitutes 'not-for-profit day services' or provide detailed eligibility criteria for the disability population served
- It is unclear whether the tax exemption applies retroactively to January 1, 2024, or only from the date of passage of the by-law, if passed
- The bill does not explain how the Luso Canadian Charitable Society will fund the operations that previously generated tax revenue for the City
Section 353 of the Municipal Act, 2001 (which deals with taxes collected on behalf of other bodies) applies to the cancelled school taxes, determining how the City of Hamilton handles the financial impact of the tax cancellations
Source: Section 3(4) of Bill PR42
The specified property is defined using the land definition from the Assessment Act
Source: Section 1 of Bill PR42
The tax exemption requires that the Luso Canadian Charitable Society be a registered charity under the federal Income Tax Act
Source: Preamble and Section 2(1)(d) of Bill PR42
Establishes that the Luso Canadian Charitable Society was incorporated under Ontario's Corporations Act
Source: Preamble of Bill PR42
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.
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