Lake Country has increased its development cost charges to bring it inline with other municipalities in the region.
At their September 6, 2016 meeting, Mayor and Council adopted a new development cost charge bylaw.
Development Cost Charges (DCCs) are used to finance the costs to provide road, drainage, water and sewer services for the projected growth in population. DCCs are funds that are collected from land developers, by a municipality, to ensure that development pays its fair share. Expansion and development often lead directly to an increase in the demand for sewer, water, drainage, parks and roads.
“The District has experienced significant growth since last updating the DCC Bylaw in 2005 and has fallen behind municipalities in the region,” said Mark Koch, Director of Community Services. “Since 2005, construction and land costs have also increased significantly, creating upward pressure on the District’s capital budget.”
Despite the increase, the proposed DCCs in Lake Country will remain lower than many cities in the region and overall municipal fees paid by builders and developers will remain competitive with similar municipalities in the region.
“DCCs shift financial responsibility for providing capital costs from the general tax base to the developers of new growth requiring the infrastructure,” noted Koch. “DCCs cannot be used to pay for ongoing maintenance and operating costs for new infrastructure.” Local governments are authorized to collect DCCs under the Local Government Act. The bylaw also sets out when a development is exempt from the payment of the development cost charges.
Grandfathering may exempt an application from DCC Bylaw 950, if the application is in-stream based on:
Single Family Subdivisions
·A complete application must have been submitted on or before September 6, 2016; and
· The subdivision must have been ready for approval by the Approving Officer (i.e. servicing agreement completed and signed, zoning in place and all fees paid) on or before September 6, 2016.
Building Permits for projects where DCCs are applicable
·A complete building permit application submitted on or before September 6, 2016; and
· The building permit issued (i.e. all fees paid, all required supporting documentation submitted and accepted by the District) on or before September 6, 2016.
Public consultation is required as part of the approval process of the DCC Bylaw. A Public Meeting was held January 19, 2016 at the Lake Country Municipal Hall.
· Feedback was mainly related to the proportioning of the existing “user benefit” between future development and existing residents. As certain
infrastructure projects may benefit existing residents as well as future residents, a benefit factor related to the projected growth was calculated
using the population projections and anticipated development interest.
The Inspector of Municipalities approved the Lake Country DCC Bylaw on August 30, 2016.