Sackvillians will be headed to the polls earlier than expected, and their neighbours from outside current town boundaries will be joining them.
In November 2022, municipal elections will be held for a new municipal entity made up of the town of Sackville, the village of Dorchester, the local service districts of Sackville and Point de Bute, and about 40% of the local service district of Dorchester.
The amalgamation is part of a major restructuring of local government throughout the province announced today by Daniel Allain, minister for local governance. New Brunswick will move from having 104 local governments, and hundreds of unrepresented local service districts, to 78 local governments and 12 rural districts.
The new Sackville-Dorchester-Point de Bute amalgam, referred to an “entity 40” in the province’s white paper [get the PDF here], will have a population of 8,352, and the combined tax base will be $869,814,050.
Currently, the town of Sackville about five times as many people as the village of Dorchester, but its tax base is about ten times as big.
Populations according to 2016 census:
- Town of Sackville: 5,331
- Village of Dorchester: 1,096
- Sackville Parish LSD: 1,182
- Dorchester Parish LSD: 429
- Westmorland census subdivision (which includes Point de Bute, Baie Verte, and Westmorland LSDs): 908
Municipal tax base for 2022:
- Town of Sackville: $662,069,250
- Village of Dorchester: $61,667,550
Allain said Thursday that the next step will be introducing legislation sometime in December to formalize the changes. Work on the transition will then begin in early 2022, with the goal of having the new entities functioning by January 2023.
Officials from the department of local governance will form transition teams to lead the establishment of the new municipality, and those teams will consult an advisory committee made up of current elected representatives, as well as community leaders from the LSDs.
The transition teams will be responsible for selecting a Chief Administrative Officer and clerk for the new municipality, to be in place by September 2022. The transition team will also determine tax rates going into 2023, and create a first year budget for the new municipality. They will also determine the number and type of seats in the new council, for an election to take place in November 2022.
That means not only will Sackville be electing a new mayor and council, but how those seats are laid out will more thank likely change. Sackville currently elects a mayor and eight councillors-at-large, while Dorchester has a mayor and four at-large councillors. The Local Service Districts have no local level representation.
Sackville has the lion’s share of the population in the new municipality, and so the new council makeup will likely incorporate a ward system, at least in part, to prevent less populous areas of the new municipality from being politically dominated by Sackville.
Even before hiring staff, determining tax rates, and deciding the composition of a new council, the transition team will be responsible for naming the new municipal entity (working with representatives of the community.) The type of municipal entity and legal name will be decided by July 1, 2022.
Mesheau reacts positively, but town response will wait
In an interview on Tantramar Report, Sackville mayor Shawn Mesheau said he knew change was coming, but “we probably weren’t aware of the aggressiveness in regards to those changes.”
Back in July, Sackville town council approved a letter to Minister Allain stating the town’s position against amalgamation of existing towns with LSDs. The town said such a move would be unrealistic, and that they would object to forced amalgamation.
Mesheau said council will have to discuss the province’s plan, and hear from staff on the implications. “Staff are looking at the document and starting to break it down,” Mesheau said, “so that council can be properly briefed on what the next steps are.” The next Sackville Town Council meeting is scheduled for December 6, and Mesheau said Thursday there are not yet plans to call a special meeting before that.
Despite the fact that his term as mayor will be ended prematurely, Mesheau says he is “just pleased to see that the province is moving forward on local governance reform.” At this time, he intends to run for office in the new, expanded municipal entity.
Mesheau points out some opportunities for the new entity, such as expanding planning and protections for communities just outside town limits with no current municipal zoning or regulation. “Some of the issues that have arisen with folks in British Settlement in regards to blasting in the gravel pit. Once you see this unfold, there might be opportunity to help people in those areas that maybe the municipality wasn’t able to help in the past.”
Mesheau doesn’t foresee issues with governing towns and rural communities. “I’ve always looked at Sackville as being a rural community,” said Mesheau. “You know, sometimes we see the hustle and bustle of our downtown, but ultimately, growing up in this area, I was as connected to Port Elgin and Dorchester, because I attended high school here with folks in those areas and knew people and families in those areas. And, you know, we were one rural community… There’s more things in common, I think, than people might realize.”
Provincial statements of public interest will guide local planning
New municipalities will be expected to have land use plans in place by 2027, but the province will have a say in what those plans look like.
The town of Sackville was due for a review of its municipal plan this year, though that has yet to begin. Its safe to say that process will now change, though its not clear how.
While land use planning will cover more territory than it has before, the province is also saying it will develop provincial statements of public interest that all land use plans will abide by. Those statements will cover “use of agricultural lands, climate change, settlement patterns, and natural resource development.” The province says the statements will be developed with other provincial departments and stakeholders that are impacted, as well as the planning community and the public.
Allain promises little change on tax rates
Taxation promises to be the most controversial part of the new plan, because people currently residing in LSDs pay a much lower tax rate than those in municipalities with local governments.
The plan calls for the maintenance of different tax rates in amalgamated entities, with any increases or decreases determined by the transition team. And, Allain claims, any tax rate changes will be tied directly to services provided. “People will pay for services they receive and they will not pay for the services they do not receive,” he said Thursday.
Current tax rates, per $100 of assessment
- Town of Sackville: 1.56
- Village of Dorchester: 1.5701 (just reduced from 1.5895)
- Local Service Districts: 0.9875
This ability to levy different tax rates for different parts of a municipality according to the services available is new, and will make it more palatable for rural LSD property owners to stomach amalgamation.
However it is likely that LSD tax rates will go up, at least partly, with amalgamation, since there are immediate costs associated with having a council and staff, and there are also existing regional services that reach beyond town lines, such as the Tantramar Veterans Memorial Civic Centre.
The province says property tax reform will happen in two phases, and the so-called double tax on non-owner occupied properties will be addressed in phase two.
Regional Service Commissions expand roles
Regional service commissions will have their roles greatly expanded. Currently the Southeast Regional Service Commission handles planning services, through the recently rebranded Plan 360 office, and waste management services, through Eco 360. The new commission mandates will expand to include, “economic development, community development, regional tourism promotion, regional transportation and cost sharing on regional recreational infrastructure.”
Mesheau says he believes that’s a step in the right direction. “I think it will help the region achieve some of those economic growth opportunities and tourism opportunities… Instead of us each doing our own thing, trying to do something [together] will help move us in the right direction.”
What’s up with the other ‘entities’ in the Southeast Regional Service Commission?
- The village of Port Elgin will be amalgamated with LSDs from Baie Verte, Bayfield, Botsford, Cape Tormentine, Westmorland and Murray Corner.
- Moncton and Dieppe gain small parts of surrounding LSDs, but the additional population is not considered significant enough to require elections.
- Riverview, Memramcook and Petitcodiac will remain as is.
- The town of Shediac will be joined with almost four LSDs, and by-elections will be required.
- The LSD of Shediac will be combined with most of the Moncton LSD to form a new entity.
- Cap Pele and Beaubassin East will be combined, and require an election.
- The Village of Salisbury will be combined with parts of three LSDs and require an election.
- The villages of Alma, Hillsborough and Riverside-Albert will be joined with four LSDs and parts of a fifth.
- A rural district with parts of Dorchester, Elgin, Salisbury and Coverdale LSDs will be formed, and will elect an advisory committee.
