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[Mike K.]

Victoria council seeks stiff development-fee hikes
BY SANDRA MCCULLOCH Times Colonist staff

A proposal to hike some municipal fees by up to 20 times their existing rate drew fewer than a dozen people to an open house at Victoria City Hall Thursday.
The development cost charge is paid by anyone who wants to build or renovate their home where the value is $50,000 or more. It’s also paid in the construction of subdivisions, townhouses, apartments and any new buildings used for commercial, industrial and institutional purposes.
The charge, part of the subdivision or building-permit application process, is amassed in a reserve account that funds future improvements to infrastructure, such as new water mains, sewage pipes and arterial roads. It also funds parkland acquisition and development.
The development cost charge for a single family home is currently $257.71 per lot. That fee will be hiked to $5,018.82 in the fall if the proposal meets the approval of the public, developers and council.
Future development is expected to be mainly in multi-family units, and those fees also face stiff increases from the current rate of $247 per unit to $2,829.
The new rates were explained at the open house by Fraser Smith, a consultant with Urban Systems Ltd. He said the new rates were based on a rate of growth not anticipated when the current rates were set 12 years ago.
Smith downplayed suggestions the increased cost would hit homebuyers in the pocket.
But developer Glen Wilson of Urban Development Institute disagreed, saying: “It’s not a cost that’s going to be borne by developers — that’s nonsense. [Developers] have to pass on their costs.”
There was some discussion on how to get word of the pending rate hike out to developers and the public. The city’s website and a developers’ newsletter were suggested as ways of publicizing the change.
The new rates would bring Victoria more in line with rates charged by surrounding municipalities, said Smith.
For single-family lots, Sooke charges $7,490, Saanich ranges from $809 to $23,000, and Langford receives $10,000 to $12,000. For condo/apartments, Sooke charges $3,847 per unit, while Saanich charges $809 to $8,037 and Langford, $2,184 to $3,291.
The new rates were calculated using land use and new growth projections, expected population growth, and additional capacity required on existing infrastructure.
According to a handout, the actual rate is calculated by dividing the cost of works by the amount of growth.
Staff will report to council in September on Thursday’s open house. The new rates will then be reviewed by council and given the necessary three readings. The draft bylaw will then go to the province for approval before returning to council for fourth reading and implementation.

[Mike K.]

Development fees poised to skyrocket
Charges scheduled to go up 2,000 per cent, but will still rank among lowest in B.C.
BY CAROLYN HEIMAN Times Colonist staff

Victoria plans to increase development cost charges as much as nearly 2,000 per cent, but its fees will still be among the lowest in the province.
Under the new structure, a homeowner subdividing a lot will pay $5,000 for the new lot, up from $271.
A developer building apartments would pay $2,829 per dwelling, up from approximately $247.
The increases, which must be approved by the provincial government, are part of a plan expected to generate $17-million worth of revenue over 20 years.
The president of the Victoria local of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association says the fee hikes will hinder housing affordability, reduce rental opportunities, and obstruct solutions to homelessness.
“Housing affordability and revitalization are best accomplished through initiatives that reduce development charges and red tape,” Lindalee Brougham said in a letter to council.
Justifying the hikes, city finance director Mike McCliggott said Thursday Victoria has the lowest development cost charges in B.C. and the city can forgive the charges for affordable housing projects built by non-profits.
Without the fees, capital costs incurred as a result of growth would have to be paid for “on the backs of Victoria taxpayers” rather than being shared by developers, McCliggott told council.
Mayor Alan Lowe pointed out that there has been no rental construction or significant inroads on affordable housing even with low fees.
The current development cost charge structure was laid out in the mid-1990s.
The revised fee structure grew out of a task force commission to look at development levies. It found that the city does not have the authority to implement levies and its only avenue was to look at development cost charges.
While the increase appears hefty, the city’s development cost charges still lag significantly behind other area municipalities.
In Sooke, single-lot charges are $7,490. In Saanich they range from $809 to $23,366. Langford charges $10,000 to $12,000.
The Victoria Real Estate Board, Rental Owners and Managers Society of B.C., the chamber of commerce and the Urban Development Institute also raised concerns about the hikes fees.
The UDI said it understood the need for the fees but requested the city use the money collected to fund improvements made in the locales where the development is taking place.
If approved by the province, the new rate structure would likely come into effect before the end of the year.
The charges have to be based on a complex and rigidly defined formula that takes into consideration factors including projected growth, transportation, parks and utility requirements.
McCliggott said revenue raised from development cost charges pays for expanding and upgrading the city’s engineering transportation and utility infrastructure. Intersection and traffic calming, road improvements and pedestrian and bicycle facilities are also funded through the charges.
The charges cannot be used to pay for libraries, firehalls, police stations or parks and recreation buildings.
Under the new fee structure moneys would also be allocated to develop new parklands such as the pathways along the harbour.

[Scaper]

Unreal, yet they will make a developer like West Bank wait over two years to complete a development. If they are going to charge that 2000% hike, they better spead up that process by 2000%.

[Ms. B. Havin]

In today's T-C, Carloyn Heiman reports that [url=http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=88db529b-4fff-4b17-937c-322d50ccba9c&k=9243:3017a]the city is holding off on implementing DCC fees[/url:3017a], even though the UDI thought the fee structure was good. A couple of other industry sectors didn't think so, however, and now the matter is on hold.

Victoria holds off on fee increases
Developers will pay new rates in October

Carolyn Heiman
Times Colonist

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Developers braced for hefty bills from the City of Victoria are getting a break as implementation of new development cost charge fees are being delayed.

The city is hiking the fees -- some as much as 2,000 per cent -- to bring them in line with those in other parts of the province.

City finance director Mike McCliggott estimates the city could be out of pocket $400,000 to $800,000 for every six months the city operates under the old fee structure. The amount would depend on the number and size of development applications coming forward.

Council had already given three readings to a bylaw that included a transition period for new fees. However, after legal advice saying there might be issues with how the city was planning to deal with "in-stream" applications, the bylaw was rescinded. The sting of the new rates won't be felt until Oct. 1, 2007. But in giving ample warning of the fee hike, there won't be a transition or grandfathering plan.

While the percentage increase appears staggering, the city says it has the lowest development cost charges in B.C., using a structure laid out in the mid-1990s. Under the new fees, a homeowner subdividing a lot will pay $5,000, up from $271. The fees for apartments or condominiums would go to $2,829 per unit, up from $247.

The new fees, charged at the building permit stage of a project, are projected to put $17 million into city coffers ov er 20 years, thereby easing the tax burden that might be necessary for capital costs arising from new development.

There are rules on how the city can use the money. It cannot be used to pay for capital costs such as libraries, firehalls, police stations or parks and recreation buildings. It can be used to upgrade engineering, transportation and utility infrastructure including traffic calming and pedestrian and bicycling facilities.

The fee hikes took Dockside Green developers by surprise and in December they asked city council to waive $2.1 million worth of fees anticipated under the new fee schedule. They argued that they should get some credit for being an environmentally friendly project and that they didn't know when negotiating the purchase of the land from the city that the city was planning the fee hike.

While the Urban Development Institute accepted the need for the city to raise the fees, not all agencies agreed. The Canadian Home Builders' Association and Rental Owners and Managers Society of B.C. objected, saying industry and housing affordability would be affected.

The city worked on the new fee structure for over a year, hiring a consultant to look at the issue and working with the UDI in setting the rates. The Urban Development Institute is a national non-profit association with members involved in all facets of land development and planning.

Glen Wilson, UDI president, said "at the end of the day we feel it is acceptable...There is a sense that the development community will be paying their fair share of costs."

Wilson predicted there would be a push for some developers to have all their approvals in before they are affected by the new structure. In practical terms, that would mean rezoning and development permit approvals would have to be done by spring, he said.
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2007

[VicHockeyFan]

How else to explain why new housing in the City of Vancouver is now subject to at least 107 taxes, fees and levies, all of which drive up the cost of housing? Our leaders now tax new condos at a rate of at least 37 per cent, making a condo that should cost $294,691 come in at a final selling price of $403,809.

 

At a time when real estate has become the dominant conversation in the Lower Mainland, when a news cycle can’t go by without another big affordability story, the politicians have got off nearly scot-free, even as they reach their hands deeper into the housing tax till.

 

Their demands have become ridiculous and expensive.

 

TransLink, for example, now requires builders to hire a Trolley Overhead Safety Watcher whenever a home builder is working near bus trolley lines. Someone is paid $90 per hour ($135 per hour for overtime shifts of longer than eight hours) to sit and watch the trolley bus wires. There are no special qualifications for this job; it is usually done by a retired bus driver, not an electrical expert.

 

 

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