MetroVancouvercallsfordeveloperstopayevenmore

FRANK O’BRIEN, Western Investor

Metro Vancouver’s board of directors has approved a motion to re-work its budget to ease the rising tax burden for the region’s 2 8 million residents – and saddle real estate developers with much higher costs

The motion, approved April 19, gives staff a mandate to overhaul its 2024 budget and move toward a plan that would lower Metro fees for single households by more than 16 per cent between 2022 and 2026. The plan, however, would also increase development cost charges levied to developers when they build new residential or commercial projects

Development cost charges (DCCs) are collected from developers and applied to the cost of infrastructure related to growth DCCs are charged either on a per-square-foot basis or, in residential, as a flat fee per housing unit

On April 28, the Metro board will decide whether developers, including those building new homes, will cover almost 100 per cent of the ballooning cost of water and sewage, the most expensive infrastructure, as part of Metro’s 2024-2028 Financial Plan.

Currently there is an 82.5 per cent development fee on sewage infrastructure costs and Metro’s new water infrastructure fee will be 50 per cent of related costs.

The change means ”that 99 per cent of the cost of system expansion is covered by development cost charges rather than water sales to water district members or liquid waste services levies to sewerage and drainage district members,” explained Jennifer Saltman, a communication specialist with Metro Vancouver

The Metro Vancouver DCC rates would be on top of any municipal charges for new real estate developments.

Metro Vancouver’s fee increases come amid rising inflation, ongoing debt obligations and billions of dollars in infrastructure planning across a region housing nearly half of B.C.’s population.

Metro is currently building or upgrading three wastewater treatment plants The largest of those is the Iona Island Wastewater Treatment Plant, a $10 4 billion, 10-year project designed to meet new regulatory requirements and the needs of a growing population

Other major capital projects include a massive upgrade to the regional body’s more than 500 km of water mains a series of projects meant to keep up with population growth and to have a better chance of providing reliable drinking water in the event of a serious earthquake or severe weather event.

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