At the April 13th, 2021 Finance & Administration Committee meeting at the Region, Mary Simpson, Director - Financial Planning and Purchasing at the Region of Durham, made a brief presentation on the plans for updating the Region's development charge bylaw.
The amendment will seek to address the following:
- Remove 10% reduction on soft services
- Remove ineligible Social Services development charge as of September 18, 2022
- Include new secondary unit exemptions
- Reflect changes in collection of DCs and freezing of DCs
- Include growth-related costs for new long-term care home
- Planned implementation date - July 1, 2021
- Introduce Regional interest rate policy to address DC deferral and freezing of DCs
It should be noted that the province approved the Regional Application for a new 200-bed Long-Term Care Home in North Pickering, and staff are adapting the planned spring 2021 amendments to the Regional DC bylaw to include the consideration of the inclusion of the growth-related portion of costs for the new LTC home as part of the existing Regional DC charge for LTC.
The following is the planned timeline:
| Background studies and proposed bylaws available to the public on the Region's website |
April 23, 2021
|
| Public meeting Notice |
By May 5, 2021
|
| Public Meeting of Council |
May 26, 2021 |
| Final date for public comment |
May 28, 2021 |
| Finance & Administration Committee Meeting |
June 8, 2021 |
| Regional Council Meeting |
June 23, 2021 |
| Implementation of DC Bylaw Amendments |
July 1, 2021 |
After the presentation, several councillors had questions for Mary.
Pickering Regional Councillor Kevin Ashe asked if Mary had any information about a "voluntary development charge" implemented by York Region that funded the local hospitals, and asked if the Region could consider doing something similar. Mary noted that hospital funding is not deemed an eligible service and she was not familiar with York's policies, but agreed to add the conversation to their policy discussions.
Mary also noted that the use of area-specific development charges (possibly in relation to new GO stations in Oshawa, Courtice and Bowmanville) and affordable housing considerations will be part of the policy discussions.
Councillor Ted Smith asked that in light of the changes to the Development Charges Act, "would you say that development is no longer going to pay for development, which is what development charges were created for?"
Mary's response was, "The methodology in some ways has modified a long standing concern, on the other hand, we are waiting to see what the implications are of the freezing of the rates and the ability to transfer payments out over time for those three classes of development. I would point out though, for residential, none of the payment options, the deferral over the five or the 20 years applies. Those are only for non-profit, rental and institutional, and in fact, we have been granted the elimination of the 10% deduction, which we were forced to make as part of the legislative methodology for development charges. So I think I will be in a better question to answer that question when we come forward with the public meeting in May."
The presentation can be viewed here.
If you have comments, questions or concerns, please contact Stacey.
