Lloydminster’s Planning and Development Fees Bylaw will not change for at least another year.
City council was presented with an update on the Planning and Development Fees for three specific bylaws. The Building Bylaw that was last amended in 2012 and saw an increase of $0.50 from $5 per to $5.50 per $1000 of construction. Also, the Plumbing and Drainage Bylaw that was last updated in 2008 and Development Permit Fees that were amended in 2016.
The proposal wants to see an increase in fees to permits to put the city on an evening playing field with other municipalities. For example, the current plumbing fee is $50 base plus $8 per fixture, but the proposed changes would see that increase to a base fee of $75 plus $9 per fixture.
Council sent back the proposal to administration and one of the reasons was that council was looking for more information on the number of building permits issued in 2017. Councillor Jonathan Torresan says that there are years where the construction industry is booming and others where it is not so to increase fees would not accurately reflect the industry.
“Right now the costs will be very out of line with the amount of revenue based on the fact that there’s not nearly as many permits being issued because there’s kind of a slow construction season right now with the amount of properties available.”
The proposed changes to the building fees includes increasing minor building permits such as a garage from $50 to $75. However, the proposed changes were not included in the 2018 City budget. Torresan says that one suggestion from council was to look at the fee structure at a later date because there are no necessary changes that need to be made this year.