Following some stern advice from City of Sarnia management, Sarnia council has retracted its decision to extend community input for the draft development charges bylaw to March 31, 2024.
A special meeting was held Tuesday to consider the recommendation, since the current bylaw expires December 31.
Chief Administrative Officer Chris Carter said supporting councillor Adam Kilner's motion, to reconsider its decision made earlier this month to maintain the timeline set in November, would put the city in the best possible position.
"If you do not collect DC's [development charges], the current ratepayers will absorb those fees to fix those assets," Carter said. "That's why they always say growth pays for growth."
Carter warned the 2024 budget may have to be reopened to accommodate the increased costs.
"The same individuals that we try to keep taxes low for every year, are going to have to pick up those charges and those fees somewhere down the line," Carter added. "We are a city. We have hard industrial, we have light industrial, we have commercial. We have all these assets that we have to look at as a city. If the new builds are not paying for this, or putting the money towards that, we will have to find it a different way."
Engineering and Operations Manager David Jackson said development charges will be phased in under new provincial requirements.
"This first year, the development charges are actually going to be less than they are right now," said Jackson. "So, a homebuilder could reduce the price of their home by $2,000 by issuing a new permit with these new rules in 2024. Then we have all of next year to amend the bylaw before it has any impact in 2025 or the future. The new bylaw is actually better, than the old one, in 2024 for home builders."
Jackson reiterated the fees help pay for growth-related capital expenditures from new development.
"Roads, pumping stations, storm water ponds," he said. "We list those projects, we come up with a cost estimate to build those projects and then we divide that number based on the homes that we plan to build."
Councillor Bill Dennis dug his heels into the issue, continually stating the proposed bylaw is unacceptable to many developers, builders and citizens.
"At the end of the day the builders are going to pass these charges along to the consumer, and the consumer votes with their wallet, and you can't get blood out of a stone," Dennis said. "There's a point of equilibrium. There's a point where people just say no, this is too much for me. I can go someplace else. I can spend less money. I can get more of a house. I can get more goodies in the house. I can get more upgrades. That's how buyers think."
While Dennis voted against the recommendation, the remaining councillors supported it, including Terry Burrell.
"Yes, our charges are higher than other communities in the area, but we are the city," Burrell said. "We do provide many, many, more services and the services that we provide are at a higher level. We have our own full-time police force, we have our own full-time fire fighting force and we have a lot more facilities and services."
As it stands, no development charges will be collected from January 1 until a statutory public meeting is held and the development charges bylaw is reconsidered at council's regular meeting January 15.