Local Area Service Program
Background
On March 20, 2017, Council approved the new “Local Area Service Tax Policy”.
Through a Local Area Service (LAS), property owners who want to conduct neighbourhood improvements can petition Council, asking for the City to undertake the work.
Typical services accommodated under the Local Area Service include:
- Road improvements (including paving, curb and gutters, sidewalks, trees and streetlights, as required);
- Back lane opening and paving; and
- Utility extensions such as water, storm, and sanitary.
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
FIN.53(C) Local Area Service Tax Policy
FORMS
Request for Local Area Service
Preliminary Petition for Local Area Service
Petition Against Local Area Service
An LAS project can be initiated either by Petition or by Council.
If you have any questions regarding the Local Area Service Program, please contact Engineering at 604-820-3736 or engineering@mission.ca.
Getting Started
Whether the proposed LAS is initiated by property owners or by Council, property owners can choose to support or oppose the initiative.
By Petition
An owner of a parcel who would like to petition for an LAS for the benefit of their parcel, must submit a “Request for Local Area Service” to the Director of Engineering & Public Works, showing sufficient support for the petition (i.e., at least 50% of the owners of parcels located in the proposed benefiting area indicate their support for the proposed LAS on the Preliminary Petition). Engineering staff would review the scope of the petition’s request, and may:
- request further information about the proposed LAS;
- provide the LAS proponent with a letter outlining the reasons why the City will not proceed with the proposed LAS; or
- provide the LAS proponent with a letter that outlines the scope of the proposed LAS, provides all property owners an estimated cost of what their share would be, and includes a blank Preliminary Petition.
To get the project approved by Council, the formal petition must be signed in favour by at least half of the property owners, representing at least half of the assessed value of the properties benefiting, and returned within 60 days after initial receipt.
By Council Initiative
When Council proposes an initiative, the City petitions local property owners to gauge their support. Unless requested otherwise, the program will proceed.
Cost Share
Costs are shared between the City and the abutting owners as follows:
| Type of Local Area Service | Owner’s Share | City’s Share |
| Concrete curbs and sidewalks | 75% | 25% |
| Sanitary sewer systems | 100% | 0% |
| Storm sewer drainage systems | 75% | 25% |
| Street lighting | 100% | 0% |
| Roadworks (building or repairing) | 75% – 100% | 0% – 25% |
| Utility under-grounding* | 100% | 0% |
| Water systems | 100% | 0% |
| Traffic calming measures | 100% | 0% |
*Conversion of overhead BC Hydro, Telus, and Shaw cable that are on utility poles to underground conduits
For LASs not described in the above table, owners of benefitting parcels will be responsible for the percentage of the total project costs of that LAS, as specified by the Director of Engineering & Public Works.
An administrative fee to recover staff time to assess and process LAS requests from application time to construction/completion of the project applies to each LAS, and is based on the final cost of the project. Please refer to FIN.53(C) Local Area Service Tax Policy for details.
How do I Pay?
Once the project cost assessment is complete, individual property’s share is determined and then added to the property tax roll. Cost-shared local improvement charges are paid through property taxes, either in a single payment or as annual instalments for a duration of between 5 and 20 years. If paying through annual instalments, an interest component will be added.