Eastern Charlotte says it takes up to two years to get reimbursed for costs associated with unsightly premises files within the municipality.
Alex Henderson, the planning director for the Southwest New Brunswick Service Commission, said since 2023 there have been 50 properties that have been identified that fell within the by-law’s dangerous or unsightly criteria.
Unsightly properties are usually identified by the municipality through the bylaws and are governed by the Unsightly Premises Act. The Act outlines the step-by-step process for notifying and enforcement of it.
In some cases, properties can be torn down if all the processes are followed, but that cost must come first from the municipality.
“We still have a number of files to get closed,” Henderson said during the council’s regular meeting in February. “They remain on Service New Brunswick, flagged, that they need to come into compliance and that comes up during property transfers.”
Coun. Adam Hatt said some of the files the municipality is dealing with might remain for a while because of the significant costs of dealing with them.
“There (are) some tough decisions to be made down the road,” Hatt said.
Henderson said it is something councils likely need to build a bit of a financial war chest for.
“The money, you could recoup it, when you follow the process correctly but you still have to have that money upfront to go out and do the work,” he said.
Coun. Mike Thompson asked whether any money had been recouped from previous unsightly properties.
Chief Administrative Officer Jason Gaudet confirmed it had, but that the last two were outstanding.
“We’re still waiting for reimbursement from the Department of Finance,” he said. “Which they are now getting out of that process, they’ve moved it back to ELG, but typically, we would be able to demolish a house, expense it, do up the paperwork with the bylaw enforcement officer, and have our reimbursement within 12 months but now we’re getting into almost two years.”
Gaudet said the department hasn’t been able to explain why it is taking so long.
“At the end of the day, we still have two files that are pending for reimbursement,” Gaudet said.
Coun. Terry Lee said he doesn’t think continuing to try and tear down properties under the act is viable for the community – if it is in fact waiting for two years for reimbursement.
“It’s a costly venture to demo these houses, clean them up, and the idea was that we would be reimbursed by the province and two years is a bit of stretch to wait for your money,” he said.
Henderson said there isn’t much that can be done to improve the timeline.
“If you followed the process, they owe you the money,” he said. “It’s essentially an outstanding payment owed to you and how you account for that, that’s tricky.”
He said the municipality will likely just need to budget for it, allowing for the wiggle room needed to wait for the reimbursement.
In Saint Andrews, there is currently only one active file with the municipality – who handles its own unsightly files.
Each property, according to Clerk Paul Nopper, is different and costs vary.
He did say reimbursements take time, but there are no outstanding ones, adding that they have received their reimbursement before two years.
The Department of Local Government did not directly respond about why it is taking two years to reimburse municipalities.
“Any request for reimbursement of expenditures regarding unsightly premises made prior to December 31 of any year are reimbursed in the following year as indicated under subsection 143(1) of the Local Governance Act. These reimbursements are made every March 1,” said Clarissa Andersen, a spokesperson for the DLG.
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