COLLINGWOOD — Council has approved bylaws that will bring in an administrative monetary penalty system (AMPS) to Collingwood, as an alternative to the current Provincial Offences court system the town currently uses for bylaw offences.
The change means that fines issued to individuals contravening bylaws would no longer have to go through the court system, and could, instead, be appealed and enforced through town hall.
During a recent meeting, council voted unanimously in favour of the new system. Given initial approval in October 2023, the approval was the final vote enacting the new bylaws.
The town is now preparing to launch the new system in 2025. Initially, the town’s focus will be on enforcement of bylaws such as licensing, noise, property standards, and animal control, with potential future expansions to include parking and stopping offences.
“I think this is wonderful. I think this town is ahead of the curve when it comes to dispute resolution and I fully support this,” said Coun. Christopher Baines.
The estimated cost for the launch of the system is $7,500, which has already been accounted for in the 2024 budget. The town is anticipating collecting $35,000 annually through the AMPS, primarily through offences related to short-term rentals.
An administrative monetary penalty approach also offers municipalities the chance to add unpaid tickets to tax bills, and to mail a ticket when it isn't possible, or safe, to hand the ticket to the person in contravention of the town's bylaws.
Court time for dealing with provincial offence notices is limited and there's a significant backlog, stated the report.
A system that uses administrative monetary penalties would be supported through town bylaws, and would be contested through an in-house process instead of at the courts. Officers would issue a penalty notice, which can be paid, or contested to a screening officer. The next step would be an appeal to a hearings officer, which would be an independent third party.
The town could still use the provincial offences court when necessary.
Existing bylaw staff will be in the screening officer role and the report recommended the town's provincial offence prosecutor could be the hearings officer. The whole appeal process should take about an hour.
The Town of the Blue Mountains uses an administrative monetary penalty system for some of its bylaw enforcement, as does Newmarket, Vaughan, Markham, Hamilton, Oakville, Kitchener and Waterloo.
During discussions, Coun. Deb Doherty asked about parking fines, and when the AMPS would be rolled out to those bylaw infractions.
“To me, that might be one of our largest sources of revenue that we’re postponing in the short-term,” said Doherty.
The town’s acting bylaw manager Adam Harrod said the town has a system in place where tickets can be disputed through the town as a first step, so it didn’t seem necessary to implement the AMPS for that purpose at the launch of the program.
At the end of discussion, council voted unanimously in favour of approving the new bylaws.
