Municipal Grants General Regulations
made under Section 37 of the
Municipal Grants Act
R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 302
O.I.C. 2024-111 (effective April 1, 2024), N.S. Reg. 72/2024
Table of Contents
Please note: this table of contents is provided for convenience of reference and does not form part of the regulations.
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Citation
Definitions
Classification of municipalities
Number of dwelling units
Municipal financial capacity grant eligibility
Calculation of unitized expenditure rate
Calculation of derived standardized expenditure for municipality
Calculation of uniform assessment for municipality
Calculation of standard rates
Municipal financial capacity grant entitlement
Municipal financial capacity grant amount freeze
Town foundation grant
General condition for grant payout
Citation
1 These regulations may be cited as the Municipal Grants General Regulations.
Definitions
2 In these regulations,
“Act” means the Municipal Grants Act;
“derived standardized expenditure” means the amount obtained by multiplying the
number of dwelling units for the current year by the unitized expenditure rate;
“Minister” means the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing;
“transitional support program” means a financial top-up program to ensure that a
municipality’s annual municipal financial capacity grant funding entitlement is at
least equivalent to the amount of the municipality’s 2014–15 municipal financial
capacity grant;
“unitized expenditure rate” means the rate obtained by dividing the previous year’s
operating expenditures estimate by the number of dwelling units from the previous
year.
Classification of municipalities
3 For the purpose of calculating municipal financial capacity grant entitlements,
municipalities are classified as follows:
(a) Class I, comprising regional municipalities and towns; and
(b) Class II, comprising county and district municipalities.
Number of dwelling units
4 (1) The number of dwelling units in a municipality is based on the annual filed
assessment roll.
(2) Dwelling units owned by the federal Department of National Defence and dwelling
units located on Indian reserve lands are not included as dwelling units for any
purpose under the Act or its regulations.
Municipal financial capacity grant eligibility
5 A municipality is eligible for a municipal financial capacity grant under subsection 8(1)
of the Act if the municipal financial capacity grant calculation for the municipality
results in an entitlement to an amount greater than zero.
Calculation of unitized expenditure rate
6 (1) The municipal financial capacity grant for a municipality is calculated using the
unitized expenditure rate for the class of the municipality.
(2) The unitized expenditure rate is calculated for each class of municipality based on
the estimates of the previous year’s operating expenditures and the previous year’s
dwelling units.
(3) The estimates of operating expenditures referred to in subsection (2) must be
provided to the Minister by the municipality by September 30 or a later date
determined by the Minister.
(4) The unitized expenditure rate will approximately equal the average estimated
operating expenditures per dwelling unit of all the following services, described in
the Financial Reporting and Accounting Manual made under the Municipal
Government Act:
(a) 50% of general government services, not including valuation allowances;
(b) protective services;
(c) transportation services;
(d) environmental health services;
(e) 50% of recreation and cultural services;
(f) environmental development services.
(5) The Minister must provide the details of the calculation of the unitized expenditure
rate for a municipality to the clerk of the municipality upon request.
Calculation of derived standardized expenditure for municipality
7 The derived standardized expenditure for a municipality must be calculated in
accordance with the following formula:
derived standardized expenditure = A × B
in which
A = the unitized expenditure rate for the class of municipality
B = the number of dwelling units in the municipality for the current year.
Calculation of uniform assessment for municipality
8 (1) The uniform assessment of a municipality is equal to the taxable assessment of the
municipality minus 25% of the taxable assessment of commercial properties
identified on the assessment roll as being occupied by a seasonal tourist business
plus the capitalized value of payments made to the municipality in lieu of taxes and
tax payments made to the municipality by a utility, but does not include any of the
following:
(a) the building, pump stations, deep-well pumps, main transmission lines,
meters and associated plant and equipment of a municipal water utility;
(b) the assessed value of property of a named registered Canadian charitable
organization or non-profit community, a charitable, fraternal, educational,
recreational, religious, cultural or sporting organization or a day care
licensed under the Early Learning and Child Care Act, if the property is
exempt by municipal bylaw to the extent and under the conditions set out in
the bylaw.
(2) For the purpose of calculating the uniform assessment of a municipality under
subsection (1), if, under an enactment, the municipal tax revenue for an assessment
in a municipality is shared by another municipality, the assessment is deemed to be
in that other municipality to the extent that the revenue is shared by that other
municipality.
(3) For the purpose of calculating the uniform assessment of a municipality under
subsection (1), estimates of assessment must be provided to the Minister by the
municipality by September 30 or a later date determined by the Minister.
(4) The Minister may make further adjustments to the figure obtained under
subsection (1) if, in the Minister’s opinion, it is required to achieve uniformity
among municipalities.
(5) The Minister must inform each municipality of the uniform assessment calculated
for it.
(6) A municipality may, within 60 days of the date of the Minister’s calculation of its
uniform assessment, request a review by the Minister, and the Minister’s decision
is final.
(7) If estimates of assessment are not provided under subsection (3), the uniform
assessment and any other calculation that would be calculated using the estimates
of assessment may be calculated using any information the Minister considers
reasonable.
(8) For the purpose of calculating the municipal financial capacity grant for a
municipality, the uniform assessment is separated into the following components:
(a) residential uniform assessment; and
(b) commercial uniform assessment.
Calculation of standard rates
9 (1) A standard rate will be set for each class of municipality and within each class of
municipality a standard residential rate and a standard commercial rate will be set.
(2) The standard residential rate for each class of municipality must be calculated in
accordance with the following formula:
standard residential rate for each class of municipality = A × B
C
in which
A = the total derived standardized expenditure for all municipalities in the class
for which the standard residential rate is being calculated
B = the average proportion of residential uniform assessment in the class
C = the total residential uniform assessment for all municipalities in the class for
which the standard residential rate is being calculated.
(3) The standard commercial rate for each class of municipality must be calculated in
accordance with the following formula:
standard commercial rate for each class of municipality = A × B
C
in which
A = the total derived standardized expenditure for all municipalities in the class
for which the standard commercial rate is being calculated
B = the average proportion of commercial uniform assessment in the class
C = the total commercial uniform assessment for all municipalities in the class
for which the standard commercial rate is being calculated.
Municipal financial capacity grant entitlement
10 (1) The municipal financial capacity grant entitlement for a municipality must be
calculated in accordance with the following formula:
municipal financial capacity grant entitlement = A - [(B × C) + (D × E)]
in which
A = the derived standardized expenditure for the municipality
B = the calculated standard residential rate for the class
C = the residential uniform assessment for the municipality
D = the calculated standard commercial rate for the class
E = the commercial uniform assessment for the municipality.
(2) If the result of the municipal financial capacity grant entitlement calculation is less
than zero, the municipal financial capacity grant entitlement is deemed to be zero.
(3) The municipal financial capacity grant for a municipality is equal to the proportion
that the municipal financial capacity grant entitlement for the municipality is of the
total municipal financial capacity grant entitlements for all municipalities
multiplied by the total municipal financial capacity grants.
Municipal financial capacity grant amount freeze
11 (1) Despite Section 10, the allocation of the municipal financial capacity grant amount
for each municipality will be frozen for each fiscal year from the 2024–25 fiscal
year up to and including the 2028–29 fiscal year, or for a longer period substituted
by the Minister after consulting with the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities.
(2) During the freeze period in subsection (1), the grant amount to be used for a
municipality is equal to the allocation that the municipal financial capacity grant
entitlement for the municipality was of the total municipal financial capacity grant
entitlements for all municipalities multiplied by the total municipal financial
capacity grants as calculated in the 2022–23 fiscal year.
(3) Under the transitional support program, if the amount obtained for a municipality
under subsection 11(2) is less than the amount received by the municipality for its
municipal financial capacity grant for the 2014–15 fiscal year, then the difference
between those amounts will be provided to that municipality each year for the
period specified in subsection (1).
(4) When the freeze period in subsection (1) expires, the Minister may resume the
application of the formula to calculate the municipal financial capacity grant for a
municipality set out in Section 10.
Town foundation grant
12 (1) The amount of a town foundation grant payable under subsection 19A(1) of the
Act is $50 000 annually.
(2) Each town in the Province is an eligible town under subsection 19A(1) of the Act.
General condition for grant payout
13 For the purpose of subsection 19B(1) of the Act, in addition to the grants identified in the
Act, “grant” includes all of the following:
(a) the Nova Scotia Power Incorporated grant in lieu of property tax;
(b) the farmland grant in lieu of property tax;
(c) the HST offset grant;
(d) the fire protection grant.
The following regulations are not
yet in force and are not included in the current consolidation: