City council has officially hired Western Municipal Consulting Ltd. (WMC) to provide Board of Revision services with the hope that the company will provide more timely and favourable property appeal decisions.
During its June 27 regular meeting, council voted unanimously to authorize the mayor and city clerk to sign a service agreement between the City of Moose Jaw and WMC for the 2022 assessment year.
“The hopes are that it (the agreement) works out well. I think it (hiring WMC) tries to address the concern that we experienced due to a number of factors … with delays last year in holding those hearings and getting those decisions rendered,” said city solicitor Andrew Svenson.
Contract details
WMC will be responsible for selecting people to serve on the board and to be the secretary, a council report said. City hall has set the contract term for the remainder of the 2022 assessment year to provide council with the ability to evaluate whether WMC can effectively meet the municipality’s needs.
The city’s current Board of Revision secretary has received all assessment appeal applications for 2022, while WMC will be responsible for contacting all appellants and the Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency (SAMA) to schedule appeal hearings, the report continued.
WMC will determine the best way to conduct the hearings after consulting with all parties involved and will mainly use video conferencing and electronic filing or sharing of documents where possible.
Fees and charges
The agreement document shows that the City of Moose Jaw will pay WMC:
• A retainership fee of $250
• An hourly staff rate of $50
• An hourly board member rate of $75 per member
• Mileage of 60 cents per kilometre
• Printing fees of 15 cents per page
• Standard Canada Post rates
• Venue rental costs as incurred
WMC must submit detailed invoices to city hall within 45 days of providing the services, while the municipality must pay the invoices within 30 days of receiving them.
Independent process
“The municipality acknowledges the importance of an independent appeal process, and will not make any attempt, explicit or implicit, to sway any board member’s decision in any matter before the board, except for evidence duly presented during the appeal process,” the agreement says in section 14.
The agreement adds that if any party exerts inappropriate influence on the appeal board, WMC will not be held liable for damages in any follow-up legal proceedings. Meanwhile, if an appeal process leads to follow-up legal proceedings, the records and communications of WMC and its staff will not be considered privileged or confidential.
WMC must hear all appeals and render a decision within 180 days after the date on which the municipality publishes its notice.
Council discussion
Coun. Jamey Logan was concerned that the city would pay mileage to WMC when section 6(d) of the agreement says meetings would be held virtually. He wondered if there would be a mileage cap — the company is located in Meota, northwest of North Battleford — and if all meetings would be online.
Most board members are in the Regina area and are close, but some travel is involved since holding hearings online doesn’t work for everyone, said Svenson. The intention is to regularly use online video technology to communicate so appellants aren’t waiting for their hearing in person.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how this works. We’ve talked about this for a long time (and) are trying to do things different,” said Coun. Heather Eby. “I know it’s a one-year thing … but I feel it will take more than one year to see how excellent it will be. But I’m really holding out hope this will make a difference for everyone involved.”
The next regular council meeting is Monday, July 11.
