DCC water-meter plan fails to make a splash

Jeremy Deutsch - Kamloops This Week Published: February 25, 2010 11:00 AM

If the city intends to install water meters in every home in Kamloops, it will have to do so without funding help from local builders. The Canadian Home Builders Association-Central Interior has voted against using development cost charges to help pay for universal water meters. The association held a special meeting with its members on Wednesday night (Feb. 24) to take a vote on the resolution. The resolution would have needed 75 per cent member approval, but it fell short, with 15 voting in support and nine voting against the idea. Darryl Caunt, the president of the CHBA-CI, said the association is in favour of water meters, but does not agree with funding them through DCCs. “Universal water-metering contributes to the overall good of the community and should be paid for by all the taxpaying residents who, in the end, use the water system,” he said.

After being turned away by the federal government, the city was looking at using a pool of money gathered through development cost charges. It had asked the CHBA if it would consider endorsing the use of DCCs already collected to cover half the cost of installing meters. In exchange, the city would defer or eliminate DCCs on some capital projects, which would result in savings to the association’s members over 10 years. DCCs are a fee homebuilders pay to city hall to extend infrastructure to new developments. The province recently changed legislation that now allows DCCs to be used for installing water meters, if the local home-building association agrees.

Caunt said DCCs are meant for infrastructure and growth and the CHBA doesn’t support the expansion of the charges to fund municipal operations. A final debate on water meters is expected in early March, when a full report will be presented to council to coincide with ongoing 2010 budget talks.What the CHBA’s vote means for universal water meters is still unclear, as Mayor Peter Milobar had previously stated the decision only shapes the final report and doesn’t guarantee how council will vote.Homebuilders in Kamloops have been installing water meters in new homes since 2006.