The Town of Oakville is…

The Town of Oakville is happy to provide feedback on ERO 109-1406 as requested.

The following is a summary of comments from the Town of Oakville related to the proposed regulatory matters pertaining to the community benefits charge authority. The attached staff report provides full details. As a result of COVID-19, discussion of the report and a resolution from Council will not occur until April 23rd, after the commenting deadline. At that time, the Council resolution will be forwarded by the Town Clerk. The town’s submissions can be summarized as follows:

• Maintaining park development, recreation and libraries as development charge eligible services and the removal of the statutory 10% deduction increases revenue for these services, and staff commend the Province on this measure.
• The community benefits charge authority should pertain to parkland acquisition only, and other services including municipal parking and general government studies should remain as development charge eligible services in order to achieve revenue neutrality for these services.
• The undertaking of a CBC strategy will be extensive and staff recommend that the costs related to such a study and required parks plan be recoverable through the CBC.
• The percentage of land value for determining a maximum CBC requires extensive analysis and investigation, and there is not enough time to do so in the short commenting period. Further consultation with municipalities is recommended in order to determine the feasibility of a singular cap (or multiple caps) that will allow for municipalities to meet service needs. The ability to migrate the cap limits for upper and lower tiers by agreement should be given.
• If a maximum cap is set for the community benefits charge, the Minister should have the ability to review and adjust as necessary to maintain revenue neutrality over time.
• The timeline for transition to the community benefits charge regime should be two years from the proclamation date in order to satisfy all required content of a community benefits charge.
• The community benefits charge authority should be imposed at the first above grade building permit to ensure that the site is remediated and ready for development, since the land value is contingent on market conditions and site quality.
• The proposed regulations should be released in draft prior to being finalized. The Town requests that the Province consult with municipalities prior to issuing final regulations pertaining to the community benefits charge authority.

There are a number of matters pertaining to the community benefits charge authority that are not addressed in the proposed regulation, and were in prior draft regulations. These include: a requirement to allocate 60% of funds in a year, reporting on community benefits and parkland, exemptions from community benefits, the appraisal process, the LPAT appeals process, and the community planning permit system. The comments provided previously by the Town related to these matters remain unaddressed and the Town looks forward to further details on these items.