In an effort to spur new development in Rocky View County (RVC), council has decided to revisit how it collects levies.
During a regular meeting Jan. 28, the majority of council voted to have administration prepare a report examining levy collection. The decision stemmed from an administrative response to a Jan. 14 notice of motion by Coun. Jerry Gautreau and Deputy Reeve Al Schule, directing staff to assess the financial impacts of implementing a three-year moratorium on collecting off-site levies related to development applications. The intent of the moratorium would be to incentivize development by reducing associated costs.
According to Gautreau, the notice of motion – entitled “Moratorium on Off-Site Levies” – was not meant as an endorsement of a moratorium, but rather a nudge to find ways to move the County’s economy forward.
“I brought this notice of motion forward to this council and to this administration to start thinking outside the box and to come up with creative solutions,” Gautreau said. “At no time did I say I’m in favour of getting rid of levies [or] of putting a moratorium on levies.”
According to Kent Robinson, executive director of Corporate Services, properly analyzing the effects of a complete moratorium on off-site levies would require the consideration of several matters, including the estimated increase in development, cost-recovery commitments, debt covenants, capital spending and inter-municipal agreements.
As alternative to a levy moratorium, he said, council may want to consider other options that could balance both the desire to expedite economic development with the need to have a sustainable funding source for infrastructure.
“The idea behind the notice of motion isn’t lost on us,” Robinson said. “We understand why council might propose this, but we’re thinking there might be some other tools available to us that we might utilize that still collects the levies, but perhaps offers some tools to a developer that may not be currently available.”
One example, he added, would revisit the timing at which the County collects levies. While levies are currently collected when a development agreement is signed, a subdivision is endorsed or a development permit is issued, Robinson said this collection could be shifted to a later development stage. This may provide financing solutions to developers that currently aren’t available, he noted.
Several councillors, including Kim McKylor, Samanntha Wright and Deputy Reeve Al Schule, expressed an interest in Robinson’s suggestion.
“I can’t say for certain that I’m a fan of a moratorium on levies,” said McKylor. “I think development costs money, and we need to understand that, and we need to make sure…that everybody’s paying what they need to be paying.”
Wright said, while definitively not in favour of a moratorium on levies, she was interested in offering incentives to developers, so long as “we can still make our money” and it does not download costs onto ratepayers.
Coun. Kevin Hanson, meanwhile, argued that, if the goal is to “kickstart the economy,” RVC’s priority should be to “attract businesses that hire people, as opposed to developers that improve land.”
Council voted 8-1 to direct administration to bring back a report May 12 with a broad base of recommendations and options regarding levy collection and implementation. Coun. Crystal Kissel opposed the motion.
She said, in light of council directing administration in December 2019 to bring forward off-site levy bylaws following a report on various levy scenarios, she “couldn’t buy in right now.”
“In my opinion, this should have been brought forward for consideration prior to having administration prepare that levy report,” Kissel said.
