A pay-per-usage levy aimed at recovering water and wastewater infrastructure costs in East Rocky View was adopted by council July 23.
The County rescinded the previous bylaw, which was based on acres of development, after determining it was unable to recoup the remaining $66 million still owing on the $100 million investment made into water and wastewater infrastructure. Less than $11 million was generated through the bylaw since its inception in 2006.
The new levy was prepared by MPE Engineering Ltd., a third-party engineering consultant.
An administration report presented to council said the levy is “fair and equitable” and will “provide for cost-recovery based on actually servicing needs for each development proposal.”
Councillor Al Sacuta voiced his support for the new bylaw.
“I think this levy does exactly what it’s supposed to do. One: it recovers its costs or the costs of providing services. Two: It has an incentive for low water users that pay a lot of taxes to locate in Rocky View... that’s exactly what we want,” he said.
“It’s a disincentive for high water users that don’t pay a lot of taxes to locate another place... again that’s exactly what we want. I think the levy is the right direction,” he added.
The bylaw establishes levies for development areas in Cochrane, East Balzac, Conrich, Langdon and Dalroy, which are to be paid by the developer at the time a development permit is issued by the County.
However, a representative with Greenfield Development Corporation (GDC) Peter Chouhan spoke to council saying the proposed levies are too high.
The developer’s conceptual schemes for two residential development projects in Conrich - Buffalo Hills and Meadow Ridge - have already been approved by council.
At build-out, the projects will include 1,238 multifamily homes and 1,065 single-family homes.
Chouhan said the new levies “are absolutely unfair and inequitable.”
He added that under the old bylaw the residential developments would’ve been charged $26,184 per acre for water and wastewater, but the new bylaw will see an increase to an estimated $190,000 per acre.
“It is not written out explicitly how much each developer will pay. I had to do several calculations based on different factors to come up with our new rates,” he said later.
“Every other municipality works on a system that is based on acres of development. Yes, the rates need to be increased to recover those costs, but you don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” he added.
Councillor Earl Solberg asked administration if they were “convinced” the new levy would not drive prospective developers away because rates would become too prohibitive for the development to be successful.
Byron Riemann, general manager of Infrastructure and Operations, said administration recommends council approve the new bylaw because “it is considered economical for the county and will provide the certainty… to deal with development proposals as they come forward.”
Riemann said that with the new bylaw, all services in the county will be metered. Front-end agreements are still a possibility that would be negotiated between the developer and the County, he added.
“The idea is to work with the developer, who would have a much more detailed knowledge of what their plans would entail, to establish with each specific phase for the developments what the demands would be for that specific use,” Riemann told council.
The County manager is required to provide council with a report at least once a year detailing the imposed and collected levies from the previous year, any outstanding levies and the estimated cost expected to upgrade facilities pertaining to the levies.
The bylaw was given first reading by council June 4, and was scheduled for second and final reading July 16. It couldn’t be given third reading as four of the eight councillors present voted against continuing the meeting past 5 p.m.
Council unanimously approved the bylaw July 23. Councillor Liz Breakey was absent.
