The Town of Halton Hills will soon expand the use of its Administrative Monetary Penalty System (AMPS) to include other bylaw infractions beyond parking offences.
Halton Hills Council passed a bylaw this week that will see AMPS used for contraventions of Town bylaws for things like noise, responsible pet ownership, property standards and more, starting in April.
The Town began using AMPS for parking offences in 2022 as an alternative dispute process to the provincial court system. The system was put in place after provincial courts closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, then did not resume in-person trials for parking offences afterwards.
AMPS allows the Town to use administrative penalties rather than going through provincial court. It also has a mechanism to dispute penalties without going through court.
A staff report said using AMPS for non-parking violations has the potential to shorten the time to reach a resolution from 18 months to three years down to 30 days.
“The difficulty that we have as the municipality, as do others, with the existing court systems being unworkable, we are expending huge amounts of energy, often fruitlessly, for enforcing bylaws,” said Halton Hills Mayor Ann Lawlor. “This is a new program that is going to streamline and make it much easier for us to be clear about our bylaws and to help enforce them.”
Under AMPS, when an enforcement officer issues a penalty notice, it becomes a balance owed to the Town. If someone wishes to dispute a penalty, they can request a review with a screening officer. If that is unsuccessful, they can appeal to a hearing officer, whose decision will be final and binding.
“In my mind, it’s good business and we have control over (timing), and we can make sure that it’s something that is effective,” said Councillor Clark Somerville.
Currently the Town’s enforcement staff issue notices of violation, orders to comply or, when necessary, lay charges and the cases are then heard in provincial courts.
The report prepared by staff notes that “due to a lack of judicial and court resources, combined with only half a day each month allocated for Town matters, the Provincial Offences Act (POA) system is unreliable and leads to significant delays in resolving issues.”
Those delays often jeopardize the Town’s ability to enforce its bylaws because cases can be dismissed if they take too long in the court system.
The staff report notes that “enforcement staff have observed a growing number of serious violations that take advantage of the financial benefits of non-compliance and the delays related to the enforcement of the Provincial Offences Act (POA)."
Councillor Jason Brass said that has been the case with the many illegal truck depots in Town.
“There’s ample frustration with illegal land use,” he said. “Anything we can do to assist with enforcement, I am all for it.”
AMPS will also allow the Town to issue daily penalties if someone continues to violate a bylaw with no effort to make the situation compliant.
“This ensures that compliance continues to be encouraged and that a penalty is not treated as a licence fee for the continuation of illegal activities,” the staff report said.
Councillor D’Arcy Keene asked if staff will review the amount of fines.
“Fines will be reviewed on a regular basis,” said Susie Spry, the Town’s Manager of Enforcement Services. “We tried to review the most serious offences and attached the heftiest fines.”
She said for minor offences, staff attempted to set fines at a level that would ensure compliance with the bylaw without creating financial hardship.
Spry said council would have the ability to adjust fines if they deem it necessary.