Planning document advocates for new impact fee

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This article was published 03/02/2021 (1783 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE City of Winnipeg should consider adding a new impact fee as a “financial tool” to support its growth, even though its first one failed, according to a key preliminary planning document.

“There’s a policy there that says we should be looking at that… We’ve got to look at how development pays for growth, whether it’s infill or green field,” said David Jopling, manager of urban planning and design.

The recommendation comes from the latest Complete Communities strategy, a draft citywide secondary plan that will head to public consultation before it is finalized.

The policy goals also list possible “area charges” that could have only those who are most likely to benefit from a specific capital project be charged to help cover its costs.

“We’re saying it’s something that should be considered. It’s identifying that it’s needed,” Jopling said Tuesday.

The call for a new version of an impact fee, or growth fee, comes months after the city was forced to refund $37 million in revenue and interest raised by its now-cancelled levy on new homes in some new neighbourhoods.

In July, a judge found the old fee, in effect since 2017, was an “invalid, indirect tax” and ordered the refund. However, the judge specifically took issue with the way the city implemented the fee, not the city’s ability to charge one.

Jopling said a new impact fee would require plenty of consultation to develop. “I think we would go through a process with a number of the stakeholders and work through where the fees would be charged.” Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital) said he also believes a second version of the fee could succeed.

“If we talk to the developers and design it correctly, I think it would survive,” he said. Mayor Brian Bowman has left the door open, telling the Free Press in December he’d consider introducing a new version. Impact fee supporters argue the levy is needed to ensure new builds pay for the demands they create for city services and infrastructure; developers argue new construction already does so.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga