Sections 204 – 215 of the Ontario Municipal Act, 2001 (the Act) provide the regulatory framework for the establishment and operation of Business Improvement Areas (BIA’s). In particular, Section 204(1) provides that local municipalities may designate an area as an improvement area and may establish a Board of Management:

a) To oversee the improvement, beautification and maintenance of municipally owned land, buildings and structures in the area beyond that provided at the expense of the municipality generally; andb) To promote the area as a business or shopping area

Annually, each BIA is required to prepare a budget for City Council’s consideration. Council may approve the submissions in whole or in part but may not add expenditures to them. The budget submissions identify the funding sources from which the expenditures will be paid. Sources of funding can include the levy, which is collected from each of the BIA members, and other sources of revenues such as grants and sponsorships. BIA Boards cannot:

a) Spend money unless it is included in the approved budget or in a reserve

b) Incur any indebtedness extending beyond the current year without prior approval or

c) Borrow money

Therefore, once the budget is approved, the BIA must expend funds in accordance with such approval. Any funds which are not spent must be placed into a reserve which can be used in future for BIA related activities.

Following the approval of the budget, Council must also approve the method by which funds will be raised from the members and the criteria upon which the funds collected are provided to each BIA for use.

Discussion:

2020 Budget Overview

As part of the 2019 BIA budget deliberations, the following resolutions were passed by City Council (CR290/2019).

“That Administration BE DIRECTED to draft guidelines for the business improvement associations (BIA’s), that would outline in a clear way the reports that Council expects to receive at year-end with respect to annual expenditures,