BILL 29

An Act to Amend the Assessment Act

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, enacts as follows:

1 Section 15 of the Assessment Act, chapter A-14 of the Revised Statutes, 1973, is amended by striking out “15.4, 15.5, 16, 17 and 17.1” and substituting “15.4, 15.5, 15.6, 16, 17 and 17.1”.

2 The Act is amended by adding after section 15.5 the following:

Assessment of real property in the year 2018

15.6( 1) This section applies in the year 2018 to real property that was assessed in the name of a person in the year 2017.

15.6( 2) For the year 2018, the amount of an assessment on real property referred to in subsection (1) is deemed to be, subject to subsection (3), the amount of the assessment for the real property in the year 2017.

15.6( 3) On the determination of the Director, the following real property shall be exempt from the application of the provisions of this section:

(a)  new construction on real property or improvements to a portion of the real property, whether a building permit or a development and building permit to undertake the new construction or improvements has been issued or not;

(b)  any real property that has been sold or transferred in the year 2017; and

(c)  any real property in respect of which the Director corrects or alters a property assessment for the year 2018 as a result of

( i) an error in any part of an assessment of the real property for the year 2017,

( ii) the real property being in whole or in part omitted from an assessment of real property for the year 2017,

( iii) a change in the actual and bona fide use of the real property or its classification, or

( iv) a decrease in the amount of an assessment of the real property due to the operation of competitive market forces.

15.6( 4) If an assessment and tax notice was provided by the Director under section 21 with respect to real property referred to in subsection (1) in the year 2017, the Director shall prepare and mail an assessment and tax notice for the year 2018 in accordance with section 21 for the real property with the same real and true value and the same assessment for taxation value as set out in the assessment and tax notice provided by the Director in the year 2017 for that property, with any necessary modifications.