CITY OF VANCOUVER

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

 

Date:

November 30, 2004

 

Author:

Rhys Williams

 

Phone No.:

873 7282

 

RTS No.:

04639

 

CC File No.:

8005

 

Meeting Date:

December 14, 2004

TO:

Vancouver City Council

FROM:

General Manager of Corporate Services
General Manager of Engineering Services

SUBJECT:

Musqueam Indian Band - New Protocol and Services Agreement

RECOMMENDATIONS

COUNCIL POLICY

City Council is the approval authority for the service agreements entered into between the City and the Musqueam Band.

PURPOSE

This report recommends that Council adopt and implement a Protocol with the Musqueam Indian Band (the "Band") in order to formally record the mutual objectives and principles on which the parties intend to continue and enhance their long-standing inter-governmental relationship.

This report also recommends that Council authorize staff to negotiate a new longer-term service agreement based on the principles outlined in the Protocol.

The report further recommends that Council authorize staff to settle and sign a one year extension to the current services agreement between the City and the Band on the terms and conditions discussed below as a temporary measure to provide for the continuity of existing services and to allow time for negotiations of the longer-term service agreements to be concluded.

BACKGROUND

Federal and Provincial legislation permits Indian bands to levy taxes on occupiers of their lands to the exclusion of municipal taxation. The Band, whose lands are located within the boundaries of the City of Vancouver, opted to levy taxes under this legislation commencing in 1991. That action necessitated the replacement of the City's prior service agreements for the two leasehold residential subdivisions located on Musqueam Indian Reserve No. 2. (These prior agreements had provided for all normal City services in return for payment of all taxes levied and billed by the City.). At the same time the prior service agreements between the Band and the City respecting the non-Leasehold Lands (the Village Lands) were consolidated into one new agreement covering both the Leasehold Lands and the Village Lands.

Starting with a letter of understanding in 1991, the City and the Band eventually negotiated a new services agreement which was signed in 1994. Under the letter of understanding, initially, and later on, under the 1994 Services Agreement, normal City services have been provided to both the Leasehold Lands and the Village Lands on the Musqueam Indian Reserve with payment for services based on the assessed value of the Band lands. The 1994 Services Agreement has been renewed continuously since then on an annual or bi-annual basis.

On June12, 2002, when Council last approved an extension to the 1994 Services Agreement, there was a desire by Council to ensure fees appropriately reflect services delivered under the agreement.

DISCUSSION - PROTOCOL

As part of recent discussions of City and Band staff, both parties agreed that a protocol agreement would enhance the parties' inter-governmental cooperation and communication in addition to formally laying out the mutual objectives of providing service in a fair and equitable manner to their respective residents. As the parties work towards these future objectives under the Protocol, a one year extension of the current services agreement would continue to provide the legal mechanisms to handle delivery and payment of services and incrementally address growth/capacity and infrastructure issues.

Accordingly, staff on both sides have worked closely together to develop a proposed Protocol which outlines the desire for the City and the Band to work together and move forward on the principles set out in the attached Appendix "A".

The Protocol identifies specific roles through which the City and the Band can enhance communication, cooperation and co-ordination between the parties.

The Protocol suggests that one Councillor from each party be appointed to address inter-governmental issues as they arise. These matters cannot be adequately addressed in a services agreement until after they have been duly considered by the respective Councils and their communities.

The Protocol also suggests that a staff member from each party also be appointed to address day to day issues related to the administration of the Protocol and the services agreement. Staff appointees have already been in place for the past year and have already shown positive results in areas of communication and in an increased understanding of each party's respective roles. The current staff appointees are the Band's Public Works Manager and the City's Neighbourhood Integrated Service Team (NIST) Lead for the Dunbar Southlands area (whose office is located at the Musqueam Administration Building).

The Protocol articulates the desire of both parties to move towards new inter-governmental relationships such as those which the City currently enjoys with other adjacent local and regional governments. For example, staff on both sides have identified the need for an emergency mutual aid agreement to provide access to each others' emergency response resources in the event of an emergency. Moreover, the Protocol identifies a mutual desire to work towards a coordinated bylaw enforcement regime with respect to those by-laws of the City which the Band chooses to have enforced on the Reserve.

The Protocol also articluates the mutual objectives of the parties with respect to future changes to services and the principles on which those future changes are intended to be based. As can be seen in Appendix "A", City and Band staff are recommending that in the future, the parties move towards a service delivery model that recognizes the Band's desire to continue to build and enhance its own local government administration and infrastructure and where appropriate reduce the scope of services provided by the City to the Band.

Thus, the Protocol articulates a mutual desire to adopt a "willing buyer willing seller" approach to service delivery. As part of the ongoing negotiations, staff have agreed to examine with Band staff the direct cost of providing each service and compare this to the current billing method using assessed value.

Under the Protocol, the parties will continuously work to improve on services agreements with a view to agreeing on substantial changes within the first 6 months of each calendar year so as to take effect at the beginning of the following calendar year.

DISCUSSION - SERVICE AGREEMENT

While moving forward under the Protocol, staff on both sides have agreed to recommend to their respective Councils the extension of the current services agreement for a one year term (January 1st 2005 to December 31st 2005) to provide for the continuity of services while the longer-term services agreement is being negotiated. The proposed one year extension is to be based on the same terms as the current services agreement except to modify the payment calculation as follows:

The payment for services based on assessed value will be modified to equitably account for the fact that certain costs associated with planning, by-law enforcement, library, parks, and administration building services and infrastructure costs duplicate similar costs and services now incurred by and provided by the Band directly to its residents.

ALTERNATIVES/OPTIONS

If the one year extension is not endorsed by both City Council and Band Council, then the existing services agreement will need to be extended on a month to month basis to provide for the continuity of services to the Band's residents and to provide certainty around associated financial and legal issues.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

Band staff have expressed a desire to compensate the City for the services delivered based on the City's base operating costs and then adding a factor for administration, inflation, and risk and liability (reflecting the City's costs of providing support to its operational groups, such as Purchasing, Materials Management, Risk Management, etc.). On the other hand, City staff are mindful of the City's traditional approach of using assessed values and the general tax levy to apportion the cost of most services to its residents.

Accordingly, City and Band staff are working on an adjustment to the current assessed value method of paying under the Services Agreement which reflects the Band's concerns but respects the City's method of allocating service costs to its residents, in a fair and equitable manner to both parties.

The financial impact of such negotiations are not expected to be significant. Moreover, the net effect with respect to those utility costs currently billed on a user pay basis will remain unchanged since they are no longer billed on assessed value.

PERSONNEL IMPLICATIONS

Any changes to the workload of City staff will be minor in that the services provided to the Band lands do not constitute a large part of the daily work of any service group. It is expected there will be a temporary increase in the amount of work required of City staff as the City and the Band works towards the implementation of the goals and objectives outlined in the Protocol.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

The Musqueam Indian Reserve No. 2 is located in the south-west part of Vancouver adjacent to the Fraser River and through which two streams, one of which is salmon bearing, run. In the past, there have been fish kills from accidental sewer discharges. The enhanced co-ordination laid out in the Communications Protocol is intended to allow staff on both sides to work more effectively then ever towards prevention and mitigation strategies.

SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS

The Protocol is expected to provide a forum for a wider range of discussions that cannot be adequately dealt with in the current services agreement. In particular, cross-boundary issues such as land use and the associated impact on neighbouring communities, and access and payment for use of neighbouring community resources, can more effectively be dealt with via the Protocol.

CONCLUSION

City staff are proposing the endorsement of the Protocol to provide a forum for better inter-governmental relationships and to outline the principles upon which future changes to the current services agreement can be based. In the interim, City staff are proposing a further one year extension to the current agreement with some changes being made to the costing formula to equitably reflect the Band's costs of providing some local government services directly to its residents.

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