When does the committee hold a public hearing on a local improvement application?
The committee will hold a public hearing on a local improvement application when council chooses not to give property owners the right to petition against the work. Generally, councils do not allow the right of petition by property owners when the local improvement is of an emergent or public safety nature or has been previously petitioned out by property owners. As explained earlier in the discussion about the board’s mandate, hearings for the above mentioned committees are conducted under what is best described as a Hybrid Model, leaning more to the Inquiry Model. Will financing of the local improvement impact on the debt of the municipality? Any borrowing for the municipal portion of any work approved will impact on the debt level of the municipality. Therefore, the committee may set maximum borrowing levels. Borrowing the property owners’ portion will not have a similar impact as the frontage taxes assessed against benefiting land are used to repay the debt. How does a council fina
