When they meet next week, city councillors will decide on a motion that would extend the freeze on the charges developers pay when they proceed with a construction or residential project.
The fees are based on the principal that growth should pay for growth, and builders are charged for the increased demands on city infrastructure (water, sewer, roads, etc.) that the new development will create.
Development charges, as they are formally known, soared in 2009, going from more than $3,000 to more than $14,000 for each single family home. But nickel prices were at record highs at the time and the city's housing market was red hot.
With Sudbury's economy slowing, councillors agreed in 2014 to delay a planned increase in the charges for two years, and then phase in the increases over two years. They have also implemented a system where developers can pay fees when homeowners take occupancy of the house, rather than at the building permit stage.
With rising unemployment and sluggish commodity prices, Ward 10 Coun. Fern Cormier is proposing extending the freeze, which currently ends June 30.
Cormier motion says the freeze should be extended because “the unemployment rate in the City of Greater Sudbury for the period from April 10, 2016 to May 7, 2016 was 8.5 percent, which is higher than the provincial and national rates.”
Building is being held back by weak growth in jobs and population, the resolution says, adding that it “is the responsibility of governments at all levels to create an environment where the private sector can grow and prosper … Greater Sudbury should be sending a message to the business community that we are open for business and want to encourage investment in our city.”
His motion would extend the freeze until June 30, 2017, with phased-in increases in 2018 and 2019.
If councillors don't agree to freeze rates, they will increase to the following as of July 1:
• Single Family Dwellings: $15,827 per unit (5.3 per cent increase)
• Semi Detached Dwellings: $10,888 per unit (15.7 per cent increase)
• Multiples and Apartments: $9,691 per unit (2.9 per cent increase)
• Industrial: $4.54 per square foot (3.2 per cent increase)
• Non-Industrial (Commercial/Institutional): $9.12 per square foot (1.6 per cent increase)
