City council is considering revising the development charges bylaw.
The current bylaw expires June 30. The new structure would take effect July 1 and would be in place for five years. If council adopts the proposed changes, most development charges would be marginally reduced.
The development charges for a single-family dwelling will go down to $17,718 (a decrease of $46 or 0.3 per cent), while charges for apartments will drop to $10,225 (a decrease of $226 or 2.2 per cent). Development charges for non-industrial properties, including those with commercial or institutional uses, will be reduced to $8.89 per square foot (a decrease of $0.51 per square foot or 5.4 per cent).
Semis will go up to $14,235 (an increase of $127 or 0.9 per cent), while development charges for industrial properties will be increased to $5.92 per square foot (an increase of $1 per square foot or 20.3 per cent).
According to the report, the city only collected about half the development charges they anticipated from 2014 to 2018. They forecasted collecting about $43 million, but only actually collected $21.8 million.
As is noted in the report, development charges may apply to new developments, as well as re-development and expansion for residential and non-residential buildings or structures.
They help relieve existing taxpayers of the burden of growth. Essentially, as city staff points out, growth pays for growth.
The city has applied development charges to new builds since amalgamation. Prior to that, the region employed the charges from 1991.
The city formed a working group devoted to development charges and solicited feedback from the public on its web portal, OverToYou. They determined there are several changes that could be made.
As staff points out, Sudbury has some of the lowest development charges in the province.