Shared article from Rocky View 2020:
It has certainly been a long process, but Council has passed the new off-site levy bylaws. Council heard reports from administration on water and wastewater, storm water, and the off-site transportation levies.
Rocky View Council continues to buck the trend of increasing taxes and levies; RVC is decreasing its levies and allowing for more flexibility with timeframes in terms of collection.
At a time when neighboring municipalities like Calgary are under fire for jacking up taxes and levies for businesses and residents, the majority of Council is pushing forward in a different direction; they are reducing levies and taxes to attract investment and job creators and provide relief for residents in a tough financial time.
Here are a few key points on each levy:
Transportation Off-site Levy
County staff proposed changes to the amount of infrastructure included in the Levy. These included removing the requirement to build local roads, or existing roads if they are built to Long Range Transportation network standards. Background and regionally generated vehicle trips were removed from the calculation which reduced the total infrastructure requirement by $370 million. Also, the contribution for Provincial infrastructure was reduced from 25% to 12.5% recognizing that there are other regional municipalities that will contribute to this type of infrastructure.
As a result, staff proposed a Levy rate freeze on rural development areas. They also recommended an exemption for “existing residence or parent parcel” in a residential setting and decreased the levied parcel size from 9.9 acres to 7.4 acres.
The Levy also eliminates “Double Dipping”, where development is required to construct/upgrade network roads, but also pay offsite levies.
Rocky View County’s TOL is very competitive when compared to other regional players.
Water/Wastewater Levy
There were no changes to the levy methodology, but two new areas were added including Bragg Creek and OMNI.
Staff proposed a reduction in Langdon Wastewater Treatment Plant Levy from $13,686/m3 to $8,353/m3
Storm Water Levy
Staff proposed a minor adjustment to the CSMI levy. OMNI was added as a benefitting area to the Bylaw.
Developers will now be given a credit for any portion of the regional network they build as part of their project.
Councilor Gautreau summed up the levy discussion by saying, “At the end of the day we want to make sure development pays its fair share. We also want to encourage investment and job creators to come forward by creating an attractive and healthy business climate. It’s nice to be lowering taxes and levies to help spur on growth, particularly in these uncertain economic times.”
You can listen to the debate on levies, once the video from today’s meeting is posted, by clicking on the Rocky View website minutes link below. The debate starts at 1:55 and goes until 3:55.
https://www.rockyview.ca/