The day following their regularly scheduled council meeting, the North Dundas Council found themselves gathering yet again, virtually of course, to address the need to set new capital charge rates. The old bylaw, which set the rates previously, had expired with the new year. The new bylaw 2020-59, has received first reading, but requires further consideration.
The Council intends to have a very fulsome discussion about how to fund the growth of the community, and how to fund future infrastructure development. But, in the meantime, they needed to get together and set the Capital Charge rates. Although the provincial stay-at-home order means that building permits cannot be granted at this time, builders can submit applications and the township can accept them. Hence the need to have capital charge rates formalised, even though no building permits will be granted while the stay-at-home order remains in effect.
Capital Charges are the fees charged by the municipality to builders as part of the process of granting building permits. The intention is to help cover costs of infrastructure, namely water and sewer. Council decided to set the rates at $6,500. This is broken down as $2,404.57 and $4,095.43 for water and sewer rates respectively.
The township is growing fast. The current infrastructure needs to be expanded. Council needs to find a middle ground that welcomes development, and makes sure that development costs are not prohibitive enough to deter building in North Dundas, while ensuring that a fair amount of the costs for improvements and expansion of infrastructure are covered by developers. Finding a middle ground that welcomes development without making the current tax payers bear the burden for expansion is the goal of the current Council. They do not want to scare away builders with prohibitive development costs, but the current tax base cannot support the entire cost for expanded infrastructure.
The Council is intent on making sure that development in North Dundas is good for both the current residents and those joining the township.