DON QUIXOTE VS. CITY HALL When an American gets mad, he says "where's my Gun". When a Canadian gets pissed off he says "Where is my pen, I'm going to send a letter to the EDITOR". When the EDITOR won't publish his letter he sets up his own BLOG page.
When I received enough support to get a Council Seat the dogma of the establishment became : "Better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside pissing in." (Only time will tell !)
Councillor Beardsell is right that these are mega dollars we are talking about. The amount a community is allowed to collect for a fee or charge for the provision of a municipal service must be substantiated by report of how the fee is established. (When requested by the public)
As noted in the Community Charter and addressed in the following Ministry Web Site http://www.cserv.gov.bc.ca/lgd/finance/fees_charges.htm....
The amount of a fee or charge is chosen to provide enough money to recover costs and ensure the service will continue in the future… Fees are generally applied on a user-pay basis so that those who benefit from the service, bear the cost of it.
What concerns me about the building permit fee is; If the cost of construction has increased by 15% -25% on average for the past 2 to 3 years due to construction price increases, can the city argue that the same level of price increases have occurred on their permit issuance and process costs. The costs related to issuing and monitoring building permits may have increased since the past rate review, but I suspect at a rate more reminiscent of the consumer price index, which has hovered around 2.0% over the past several years.
So what councillor Beardsell is saying is true major, tax impact is in play here but it is that the permit fees are too high not too low as he talks about. Developers have been over charged in this case and as a result taxpayers have been subsidized. Unless the City can prove that the cost of delivering this service has increased at the same rate of the cost of construction over the past several years, I suggest that Council Beardsell has it backwards, the developer has been screwed not the taxpayer.
Fees and Charges
Local governments use fees and charges as an alternative to property taxation for generating revenue. Typically, fees and charges are used for recovering the cost of services, or for using municipal property. For example, user fees are usually charged for sewer, water, and garbage collection. Charges are often required when applying for a building permit or a business license. In addition, fees and charges are common when using public transit, using recreation facilities and renting local government property.
Fees and charges can be a one-time amount or they can be varied according to different factors. For instance, a bus pass could be purchased that is good for one month, or a rider could choose to pay the fare each time they ride the bus. In addition, different amounts can be owing depending on the distance travelled.
The amount of a fee or charge is chosen to provide enough money to recover costs and ensure the service will continue in the future. Fees are generally applied on a user-pay basis so that those who benefit from the service, bear the cost of it. For instance, a property owner may be charged directly for the cost of fire personnel responding to a false alarm so that this cost does not have to be shared by all property owners. Local governments must make available to the public, on request, a report showing how a fee was determined.
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Councillor Beardsell is right that these are mega dollars we are talking about. The amount a community is allowed to collect for a fee or charge for the provision of a municipal service must be substantiated by report of how the fee is established. (When requested by the public)
As noted in the Community Charter and addressed in the following Ministry Web Site http://www.cserv.gov.bc.ca/lgd/finance/fees_charges.htm....
The amount of a fee or charge is chosen to provide enough money to recover costs and ensure the service will continue in the future… Fees are generally applied on a user-pay basis so that those who benefit from the service, bear the cost of it.
What concerns me about the building permit fee is;
If the cost of construction has increased by 15% -25% on average for the past 2 to 3 years due to construction price increases, can the city argue that the same level of price increases have occurred on their permit issuance and process costs. The costs related to issuing and monitoring building permits may have increased since the past rate review, but I suspect at a rate more reminiscent of the consumer price index, which has hovered around 2.0% over the past several years.
So what councillor Beardsell is saying is true major, tax impact is in play here but it is that the permit fees are too high not too low as he talks about. Developers have been over charged in this case and as a result taxpayers have been subsidized. Unless the City can prove that the cost of delivering this service has increased at the same rate of the cost of construction over the past several years, I suggest that Council Beardsell has it backwards, the developer has been screwed not the taxpayer.
Fees and Charges
Local governments use fees and charges as an alternative to property taxation for generating revenue. Typically, fees and charges are used for recovering the cost of services, or for using municipal property. For example, user fees are usually charged for sewer, water, and garbage collection. Charges are often required when applying for a building permit or a business license. In addition, fees and charges are common when using public transit, using recreation facilities and renting local government property.
Fees and charges can be a one-time amount or they can be varied according to different factors. For instance, a bus pass could be purchased that is good for one month, or a rider could choose to pay the fare each time they ride the bus. In addition, different amounts can be owing depending on the distance travelled.
The amount of a fee or charge is chosen to provide enough money to recover costs and ensure the service will continue in the future. Fees are generally applied on a user-pay basis so that those who benefit from the service, bear the cost of it. For instance, a property owner may be charged directly for the cost of fire personnel responding to a false alarm so that this cost does not have to be shared by all property owners. Local governments must make available to the public, on request, a report showing how a fee was determined.
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