MFOA appreciates the…

MFOA appreciates the opportunity to provide comments on the proposed changes to the Development Charges Act and the Planning Act. Please see the attached document for our full submission. A summary of our technical recommendations include:
• Defer ongoing consultations on Bill 23 until January 2023 to provide municipalities with the opportunity to consult with councils and deliver an informed response to the Province. The Province should consult with municipalities on a regular and timely basis for future legislative and regulatory changes related to housing to avoid unintended consequences to municipal finance and governance. Doing so maintains the important partnership between the Province and municipalities.
• MFOA recommends the Province develop an infrastructure funding program to offset the loss of DC revenues. Without such funding, municipalities will be forced to re-prioritize capital growth projects, resulting in delays or cancellation of certain infrastructure projects which will, in turn, delay the construction of new or expanded housing. The Province should work in consultation with municipalities and stakeholders to quantify the potential revenue losses to develop this program.
• Remove proposed amendment to DCA subsection 5(6) to not enable a mandatory five-year phase in for DC rates. Should proposed subsection 5(6) not be deleted, it should only apply to DC by-laws that are passed on or after the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 receives Royal Assent. The mandatory phase-in should only apply to residential development to align with Provincial goals and maintain necessary municipal revenue.
• Remove proposed amendments to subsection 5(3) of the DCA to retain the current definition of eligible capital costs for DC funds to include studies and land costs.
• Remove proposed changes to Section 42 that mandate exemptions to parkland dedication and remove the amendments to alternative parkland dedication requirements. If these changes stay, MFOA encourages the Province to work with municipalities and stakeholders to develop a funding program to offset the loss of parkland dedication revenues.
• Remove the proposal to eliminate paragraph 17 of subsection 2(4) of the DCA in order to maintain housing services as a DC eligible service.
• Revise the proposed amendment to DCA section 26.3(2) to maintain that the maximum interest rate a municipality may charge be set at either prime plus 1% or a sufficient rate to recover interest on debt taken on to cover the deferrals, whatever is more.
• Remove proposed amendment to paragraph 4 of subsection 5(1) of the DCA in order to maintain historical service levels at 10 years.
• Move proposed section 4.2(2)(3)(4) of the DCA to O. Reg 82/98 under the DCA to allow greater flexibility for the Province to amend the definitions of “affordable” and “attainable” housing, if necessary, and amend the definition of “non-profit housing development” to capture local housing corporations by including the definition from the Housing Services Act, 2011.
• Remove proposed changes to Section 37 of the PA in recognition that CBCs are still new and, generally, untested for levels of support and sustainability. Making further changes to the CBC regime before municipalities have fully implemented the new CBC by-laws, may negatively impact the transparency and effectiveness of the new charges.