The province is looking for a short-term solution on how municipalities charge for recreation improvements after a recent Court of Appeal decision cast doubt on the practice.
Last month, Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths sent a letter to all chief executive officers across Canada regarding the decision. In it, Griffiths says he has asked the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMDC), the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) and the Urban Development Institute (UDI) to quickly hold a meeting of all key players.
Griffiths says he is looking for appropriate recommendations "to respond to this issue."
"Basically what the minister is trying to do is have a meeting of members and to find a near-term solution," said Jerry Ward, public affairs officer for Municipal Affairs.
When that meeting will be held has not yet been determined.
"The minister and department have heard from municipalities and developers about the impacts of this decision," Ward said. "Our system encourages parties to discuss solutions and sometimes we need to enforce that."
Decision
In November, the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled that the method the Town of Okotoks used to collect capital recreation levies fell outside what municipalities are allowed to do under the Municipal Government Act (MGA). Under the MGA, municipalities can only collect levies for key infrastructure such as storm, sewer, water and roads.
In the decision, the court found Okotoks' policy of making capital recreation contributions a condition of a development agreement or subdivision was not permitted. Such levies, the decision says, should be voluntary in nature.
The City of St. Albert collects its capital recreation levies in the same way Okotoks did.
"It's a condition of development. If you want to develop, you have to do this," Mayor Nolan Crouse said.
That will remain business as usual in the interim, Crouse added.
"We are charging so many dollars per lot to the developer and the developers are paying for it when they sign the development agreement. They sign off, they agree to pay for it and we use that for recreation in the area."
Crouse said that recreation levy has nothing to do with significant amenities like Servus Credit Union Place, but is more geared towards parks, playgrounds and outdoor rinks.
The city does face an issue in what it has collected to date and how it will fund future projects. At a meeting last month, councillors learned older neighbourhoods that have reached full build-out still carry balances despite there being no room to build. Other neighbourhood accounts face a funding shortfall as capital recreation levies are currently charged.
Peter Daly of Melcor Developments, which has developments in St. Albert, described the Okotoks ruling as "way overdue."
"There are abuses of the offsite levy system all over the province and it's rampant," Daly said."
Daly's biggest concern is accountability, of which he says there is little under existing legislation.
"We don't mind paying our way, but in some instances there are levies that are imposed in a way that has new development benefitting the existing municipality," Daly said. "It's just a transfer of costs."
Beyond convening a meeting over the ruling, Ward said the ministry will be reviewing the MGA over the next four years, the legislation's first review since it was enacted in 1994. He could not say when that review would begin.
"That will all be made public when all details and the scope are finalized," Ward said. "We will collect input from municipal officials and from industry and individual Albertans as well."
