Petitions and Correspondence to City Council

Electronic Petitions (Online Petition Portal)

Petitions are documents requesting Council's consideration of a matter.

An electronic or online petition is an option for members of the public to circulate to their community group, friends and neighbours and be placed on a City Council agenda that doesn't require any paper. To create, submit, and sign an online petition, you must use our Online Petition Portal on our Jump In Kawartha Lakes website.

Create an Online Petition

Council procedure does not allow any other type of electronic based petitions be presented to Council including:

• Petitions made on third-party websites (eg: Change.org, etc.)
• Scanned copies of paper petitions that have been physically signed
• Electronic documents that have been 'electronically-signed' such as on a PDF

To create and submit an Online Petition:

1. Visit the City's Online Petition Portal
2. Complete the Start a Petition form and submit your petition idea to the City Clerk's Office
3. The City Clerk's Office will review your petition idea, and let you know if it meets the requirements for presenting to City Council
4. Once your idea is approved, the City Clerk's Office will publish your Online Petition page
5. Spread the Word: Share the link to your petition with your friends, neighbours, and community groups
6. When you have at least 20 'signatures', and you are satisfied that everyone who wanted to sign your petition has, notify the Clerk's Office that you're ready for presentation to City Council
7. The Clerk's Office will verify signatures, and plan a date for presentation to City Council
8. You will be notified what Council Meeting your petition is presented to, and will be notified of the result. At a Council meeting your petition may be:
   • Formally received for information (with no further action taken)
   • Referred to staff for a further report back at a later date
   • Referred to a Committee of Council or City Staff member for review

Paper Petitions

Petitions are documents requesting Council's consideration of a matter.

Paper Petitions must contain:

• at least 20 original signatures
• the 'petition request' at the top of each page of signatures
• contact information for each signer
• contact information for the organizer of the petition

Using the Petition Template prepared by the City Clerk's Office is a good way to ensure your petition contains everything required.

The City Clerk will refuse to put a petition on the agenda where the petition request:

• involves current or pending litigation;
• involves insurance claims;
• involves administrative complaints that have not been reported and investigated through the administrative process;
• is beyond the jurisdiction of Council; or
• is contrary to the provisions of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act;

Petition procedure

Petitions are to be delivered to the City Clerk's Office (26 Francis Street, Lindsay) by 12:00 noon on the day that is 8 days prior to the scheduled Council or Planning Advisory Committee Meeting. This ensures Clerk's Office staff have enough time to place it on the agenda, and to ensure the validity of the petition. Late petitions not relating to an item on the meeting agenda will be placed on the next available meeting of Council or Planning Advisory Committee meeting, with few exceptions.

At the meeting, Council (or the committee) may make the following motions with the petition:

• receive the petition (meaning that the municipality will take no action on this issue other than filing the information in the public record);
• refer the matter to City staff for consideration; or
• direct City staff to report back to Council

No other motions will be permitted regarding a petition.

The City Clerk will refuse to put a petition on the agenda where the petition request:

• involves current or pending litigation;
• involves insurance claims;
• involves administrative complaints that have not been reported and investigated through the administrative process;
• is beyond the jurisdiction of Council; or
• is contrary to the provisions of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act;

Petition privacy

Signatories to a petition, either online or on paper, waive all expectation of privacy as a result of the petition being created for review by the general public at a meeting of Council.

This means that the petition may be placed in its entirety on the City's website, including contact information of each signer.

The Petition Template prepared by the City Clerk's Office includes a disclaimer that notes this waiver of privacy.

Petition signatures and contact information

Paper Petitions must contain the printed name, signature, and some contact information of the individuals signing it.

Electronic Petitions must contain the name, email, and address of each of the members signing it.

Signatures without contact information will be redacted by the individual or group submitting the petition or it will not be accepted by the City Clerk nor presented to Council.

Petition template for Paper Petitions

• A Petition Template is provided for your convenience. Please print as many copies as required for your petition and submit to the City Clerk once all additional information is complete. In order to complete the template you must:
• fill in the contact information of the person submitting the petition
• include a petition request (description) on each page
• number the signatures along the side
• number the pages at the bottom

 Local Improvement Petitions

Local Improvements

Local improvements are owner-initiated requests for municipal services administered pursuant to the Municipal Act, 2001 (Ontario Regulation 586/06). A local improvement is a project undertaken by partnership between the City and local area property owners that provides a benefit to properties in the vicinity. Under the Act, the City may undertake projects including (but not limited to):

• Installation of water and wastewater infrastructure

• Roadway reconstruction such as repaving

• Construction of a sidewalk, curb, and installation of street lighting

• Construction of traffic calming features, such as speed bumps

Payment Options

Upon approval, the City initially pays the costs of the improvement, and then recovers the required funding from the affected property owners. The City assesses the exact cost borne by each owner of the proposed works based on the assessment schedule calculated as per the Local Improvement Regulations. Property owners may pay their share of the project cost through property taxes over several years with imputed interest, or in a lump sum payment upon completion of the works as determined by Council in coordination with the Treasurer. 

Petition

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.

Petition & Signature Tips

• 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.

Other petitions

Limited Service Agreements and Road Assumptions

The Petition Template may also be used if collecting support for a Limited Service Agreement or a Road Assumption.