Petitions

Local Improvements must meet the approval of the property owners in the benefitting area of the proposed work.

An individual in favour of leading the proposal must collect a petition on the Clerk’s Office template signed by at least two-thirds of the supporting property owners representing at least one half of the assessed value of the properties benefitting by the improvement.

If someone is opposed to a Local Improvement proposal, they can also collect a petition of opposed property owners owning one-half of the value of the lots affected by the improvement.

A petition must meet the requirements of the City Clerk and the Local Improvement Regulations and as such, petition organizers should obtain the Local Improvement Petition Template from the City Clerk’s office. The Petition request, must be on each petition page.

A complete petition in favour of any proposal is submitted to City Clerk’s Office at City Hall. Revenue and Taxation, Engineering, and Clerk’s Office staff will review the petition for validity, and if deemed valid, staff will forward it and a staff report to City Council. Council will review the documentation, and determine whether or not to undertake the project. If they approve the project they will also determine a financing model to levy the costs with the property owners. Final approval of the project is required by Council by-law before proceeding with the works.

• Use the City Clerk’s Petition Template, as all required columns are included:

  • Petition organizers are required to submit their contact information.

  • No box on any line shall be left blank. A roll number is mandatory.

• Complete the ‘Petition Request’ box on each page printed off prior to collecting signatures. This ensures that signatories acknowledge what they are signing.

  • The Petition Request should include the proposed:

    • Scope of Work: Including a clear, specific and concise description of the scope of the proposed works.

    • Benefitting Area: Including a clear, specific and concise description of the proposed geographic benefitting area relating to the proposed works.

• Only Property Owners may sign the petition:

  • Signatures of children, boarders, and tenants (unless registered as property owners on title) will not be accepted.

  • Signatures of interested individuals that do no live in the benefitting area, will not be accepted.

• Where two or more people are property owners of one property:

  • The Regulation treats joint property owners as one property ownership unit.

  • If 2 people are property owners, both owners must sign on separate lines of the petition for that property ownership unit to be considered in favour of the petition.

    • This applies even if one property owner only holds a minority or even a 1% share of the property on title.

  • If 3 or more are property owners, a majority (50% plus one) must sign on separate lines for that property to be considered in favour of the petition.

• If a property owner owns multiple properties in the benefitting area they may sign the petition multiple time in the amount of what is equal to the number of properties they own in the benefitting area. (If they own 5 separate lots, they may sign the petition 5 separate times, with different roll numbers for each signature)

• If a corporation, organization, charity, or estate is the owner of a property, a designated person(s) on behalf of the group may sign. If multiple people are required to sign, each signature should be on separate lines. They may be required to produce evidence to the City that they have the authority to sign on behalf of the group.

• Roll Numbers (or ARN) are a 15 digit number assigned to every taxable property in the City of Kawartha Lakes and can be easily found on your property tax bill. They are typically formatted: 1651 ### ### #####.####

• If a property address is not available (eg: 123 King St.), use a legal description that may include Lot, Concession, and Plan numbers with a geographic township name (eg: Concession 12, Lot 4, Emily)

  • Legal descriptions of properties can be found on your Property Tax Bill

• All petition signers will be provided a 30 day opportunity to change their mind by form of an official notice in the mail after the original submission of the petition. The initial signing of the petition only indicates that you are interested in obtaining the services/works petitioned for in your area and you aware that there is a cost associated with obtaining these improvements. A person cannot, however, withdraw support of the petition once certified by the City Clerk.

• If a property owner notes on the petition that they are not in favour of a local improvement, and the petition is successful, that property owner is still required to pay their share of the improvement.