Fees paid by builders to the City of sa国际传媒 are going up 2.5 per cent.听
City council is expected Monday to approve the increase in the development cost charges, which have historically been paid to support the impact of growth by providing new public infrastructure such as roads, parks, sewer lines, and drainage.听
New this year, sa国际传媒 municipalities can also use DCC funds to pay for things like firehall, police buildings, and highway interchanges.
A city document shows the city has plans for 234 projects funded about two-thirds the DCCs between now and 2040, at a total cost of more than $1.3 billion.
Provincial regulations allow municipalities to increase DCCs each year by an amount equal to changes in the consumer price index without getting special approval from the government.听
鈥淐onstruction inflation has increased significantly more than CPI in the last two years. The city is sensitive to the impact that DCCs have on housing costs and, as such, has chosen to increase DCCs more modestly,鈥 a report to council states.
鈥淔uture increases may need to increase beyond CPI, but it is important to have regular incremental increases to avoid large increases in the future,鈥 the report states.听
For their part, sa国际传媒 homebuilders and other developers say they appreciate the city limiting the DCC increase for 2025 to the CPI change of 2.5 per cent.听
鈥淲e appreciate the City of sa国际传媒sa国际传媒 efforts to balance infrastructure funding needs with the economic realities of the housing market,鈥 says Charlene Thomas of the Urban Development Institute (Okanagan).
Building fees collected by all three levels of government amount to about 30 percent of the cost of a new home, according to the Central Okanagan branch of the Canadian Homebuilders鈥 Association.听
鈥淟arge, sporadic increases in DCCs can have a destabilizing effect on housing affordability and the market as a whole,鈥 association president Krista Paine says. 鈥淪maller, steady adjustments not only provide clarity for homebuilders but also help to minimize financial shocks to prospective homeowners.鈥
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