Hemson Consulting is closing in on completing their town-wide development charge study for Collingwood, and the results of that study so far show the town needs to increase development charges by 70 per cent in some cases to keep up with the costs of growth.
Jaclyn Hall of Hemson Consulting came before councillors at their March 18 meeting to provide the preliminary findings of the work underway through the study, which started in September.
“I think it’s the issue of our time. How do we pay for infrastructure for housing?” said Mayor Yvonne Hamlin.
“You can’t have housing without pipes, and who is going to pay for it?”
Development charges are one-time fees collected from developers at the time a building permit is pulled to help pay for the cost of infrastructure required to provide municipal services to new development, such as roads, transit, water and sewer infrastructure, community centres and fire and police facilities.
Under the Development Charges Act, the current life of a development charge bylaw is five years. Collingwood’s current development charge bylaw is set to expire Sept. 1. Moving forward under the act, future development charge bylaws will expire 10 years after they come into effect, which is the subject of Hemson’s review.
Under the current rates approved by council for 2024, urban rates for single/semi detached dwellings are $42,855, other multiples are $32,328, two-plus bedroom apartments are $25,743 and bachelor/one-bedroom apartments are $14,919.
For rural rates, single/semi detached dwellings are $25,532, other multiples are $19,261, two-plus bedroom apartments are $15,338 and bachelor/one-bedroom apartments are $8,889.
There is a distinction between urban and rural rates because rural homes are not connected to the town’s water and wastewater systems.
For non-residential units, urban rates per square metre are $196.38 and rural rates are $80.65.
Under the new proposed draft rates, rates would go up significantly across the board. If the new rates are approved, they would be phased in over a five-year period, only reaching these numbers starting in 2028.
Urban rates for single/semi-detached dwellings would be $72,951, other multiples would be $54,270, two-plus bedroom apartments would be $43,415 and bachelor/one-bedroom apartments would be $27,134.
For rural rates, single/semi-detached dwellings would be $36,676, other multiples would be $27,284, two-plus bedroom apartments would be $21,827 and bachelor/one-bedroom apartments would be $13,641.
For non-residential units, urban rates per square metre would be $299.63 and rural rates would be $84.16.
Hall said the increases were necessary because of updated capital program costs, changes to development forecasts, growth and the removal/addition of services development charges pay for under the act.
During discussion, multiple councillors shared the stress of keeping housing affordable while still collecting enough to pay for the infrastructure to service the homes.
“How do we possibly have a discussion about affordable housing facing this kind of a decision?” asked Coun. Kathy Jeffery. “I don’t even know where to start. This will get passed on to the buyers, for sure.”
Town treasurer Monica Quinlan noted that development that is defined as “affordable housing” is exempt from development charges under the province’s Bill 23. However, Quinlan said the bill has still not been given Royal Assent, with a key sticking point being that the province has not come to consensus on defining what affordable and attainable housing is through the legislation.
“I’m sitting here very depressed about this information,” said Jeffery.
Coun. Christopher Baines asked if development charges could be changed during the 10-year span of the bylaw, or if they were locked in. Hall clarified that the charges could only be made within the 10-year span subject to StatsCan’s quarterly construction price statistics, which are updated annually.
“We’re still in the discussion stages. We have to bring numbers forward so we have an idea of what we’re looking at, but it’s not ingrained yet,” said Deputy Mayor Tim Fryer. “Infrastructure costs have ballooned so much.”
“Big brains need to solve this, and sooner rather than later,” said Hamlin.
Hall told councillors that Hemson Consulting is expecting to release the full development charge background study to the public on April 15, at which time public consultation with residents and the development community will occur on the changes.
