HomeMy WebLinkAboutBy-law 3560/90 THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF PICKERINCa
BY-LAW NO, 3560 /90
Being a by-law to authorize the retention of C.N. Watson
and Associates Ltd. to conduct a Development Charge
Policy Study and the execution of documentation to effect
that retainer.
WHEREAS, l~ursuant to the Development Charges Act 1989, S.O. 1989, chapter 58, The
Corporation otthe Town of Pickering ~s proposing to enact a Development Charges By-law and
requires the assistance of a financial consultant to prepare and process a Development Charge
Policy Study and related matters in furtherance thereof; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to the Municipal Act, R.S.O 1980, Chapter 302, section 208.45, the
Council of The Corporation of the Town of Pickering may pass by-laws for appointing such
servants as may be necessary for the purposes of the Corporation and for carrying into effect
the provisions of any Act of the Legislature;
NOW THEREFORE, the Council of The Corporation of the Town of Picketing HEREBY
ENACTS AS FOLLOWS:
1. The firm of C.N. Watson and Associates Ltd. is hereby retained as the Town's financial
consultant for the purpose of carrying out a Development Charge Policy Study in
accordance with its proposal dated 1990 06 27, a copy of which is attached to this By-law
as Schedule A, at a maximum cost to the Town of $25,000.
2. The Mayor and Clerk are hereby authorized to execute any documentation, including but
not necessarily limited to the proposal in the form attached hereto as Schedule A,
necessary to effect the retainer referred to in section 1, above.
3. Schedule A hereto forms part of this By-law.
BY-LAW read a first, second and third time and finally passed this 1st day of October, 1990.
Bruce Taylor, Clerk
TOWN CF
PICKERING
APPROVED
LEGAL DEPI.
SCHEDULE A
C.N. Watson and Associates Ltd.
Economisl~ 629 The Queemway Telephone (416) 253-8080
Toronto, Ontario Fax (416) 253-9362
MSY
VIA COURIER
June 27, 1990
Mr. J. Walls
Treasurer-Collector
The Town of Pickering
Picketing Civic Centre
One The Esplanade
LIV 6K7
Dear Mr. W~II~;
Re: Develo~)ment Charge Policy_ Study
Further to your letter of June 25, 1990, we are pleased to provide a proposal to conduct a
Development Charges Study for the Town of Picketing.
As you are aware, the ..Development Char~es Act. 1989 which received Royal Assent on
November 23, 1989, stipulates in s.44 that a by-law or resolution providing for the payment
of chargea related to development that was in effect on November 25, 1989 shall remain in
effect, without amendment, for a maximum of two years, or until the municipality passes
a new by-law under the Act. Section 45 of the Act prevents the munidpali _ty from enterin~
into a s.50/$2 Planntn~ Act am-eement (re: subdivision or severance) that imposes a charl~e
related to a development, thereafter, other than local ~-vices installed at the expense of the
owner within the subdivision or as a condition of approval of a severance, or local
connections to water mains, sanitary ~ewers and storm drainage facilities installed at the
expense of the owner.
s.4 of the Act sets out approval requirements for a by-law under the Act, including the
requirement to hold a public meeting and to give a minimum of twenty days notice thereof.
The requirement to have a sound basis for the development charge policy which complies
with the ACt and Regulations, therefore gives rise to the need to provide for:.
· establishing a ten year residential and non-residential growth plan;
C.N. Watson and Associates Ltd.
· identifying all net residential and non-residential growth-related capital costs (which
could involve further engineering work);
· calculating a development charge for various uses and categories of development,
using a full cash flow methodology;
· preparing the nec~ry report, by-law and information pamphlet;
· reviewing the draft report and by-law with Council before holding a public meeting
thereon;
· holding a public meeting and considering the verbal and written input arising
therefrom and modifying the report accordingly, before returning it to Council for
final consideration.
Finally, the Act makes it vitally important that municipal policy be ~oundl_v based, in that
it bestows considerably strengthened appeal powers on those affected, i.e. the by-law:
· may be appealed by 'any person or orga~iTation' within twenty days of receiving
written notice;
· the appeal relates to the by-law itself and all char_~es collected thereunder, rather than
simply to the charges imposed on any particular development, as at present;
· the appeal doea involve "holding up' the processing of any partio_~l~r development
propoeal, as at present;
· where the Municipal Board ordem a reduction in the development charge, the
mmxictvali~ t~hall r~md all develomnent char_~es ?aid thereunder, ~lu~ interest,
With ~ sittmtion as background, we are submitting herewith the following proposal:
1. Obtectlve
1.1 to review the Town's existing policy regarding recovery of capital
expenditures from new development and to recommend appropriate
development charges under a new policy.
1.2 to do so in a manner which complies with the requirements of the
Develovment Char~es Act, 1989 and its associated Regulations. This includes
C.N. Watson and Associates Ltd.
'3-
the requirement to hold at least one public meeting and to consider and
respond to any communicatiom on the study associated therewith.
1.3 to addre~ transitional arrangements from the Plannimr Aa-based charges to
the l~¥elo~ment Char~es A~, with particular reference to the existing
agreements, site specific charges and land dedications.
2. Approach
2.1 provide a definition of what needa to be done in order to comply with the
D~v~lgpment Char~es Act and associated Regulationa. Our firm will dearly
define methodology and verify it with a number of legal Counsel, as part of
conducting studies in other jur~dictiom. The firm will also establish the
formats needed to assemble the data and to facilitate the calculations.
2.2 work with staff (or Town planrring consultants) to establish a ~olid growth
forecast for the municipality for a period of approximately ten year~. This
forecast is to address residential, commercial, industrial and institutional
development by time period, type, size and general location in formats similar
to those set out in Figure 1.
2.3 work with staff to establish a dear and comprehensive summary of the
Town's current policy and practice regarding charges under the Plannin~ Act
s.36, 41, 50, 52, front ending agreements, 'best effort' front-ending situations,
over$1~ir~ policy, parkland dedications, road widenings, boundary road
improvements, Municipal Act and Local Improvement Act charges, etc. This
as,_~es_sment will aiso addrea~ reserve fund~ which have been accumulated,
outstanding commitments, and the nature of the financial component of
subdivider and related agreements the Town has, or is negotiating. This
as~_~e~_sment is of critical importance to integrating the current system with the
proposed system of dealing with development.
2.4 undertake a review of service leveis and growth-related projects, including
existing facilities and po~ible future intentions. ~ task would involve
meetings with Town representatives responsible for engineering, parks and
recreation, fire, library, administration and other works. This exercise would
involve the identification of growth-related project segments eligible for
development charge, establishment of co~t allocation approaches, etc.
2.5 Data on growth-related projects would include the type of information
contained on Figure 2, including the determination of the highest level of
C.N. Watson and Associates Ltd.
service attained during the preceding decade, pursuant to s.3(1) of O. Reg.
725/S .
The service levels which are to underlie the analysis would be put before
Council for formal adoption, pursuant to s.3(2). Of particular importance
would be the separation of expenditures required even in the absence of
future growth (to repair, replace or upgrade) from these which, in whole or
in part, are attributable to the requirements of growth, on land subject to
development charges.
2.6 Establish, based on research and arjalysis, the fundamental parameters on
which it is proposed that the development charge calculations be based.
These include:
murdclpal-wide vs. area specific charges for individual service types,
particularly for hard services, such as storm drainage;
· the anticipated role of developer front-end financing in the project
funding scheme;
· the potential role of development charge credits where service
oversizing is mandated by the Town;
· possible full or partial exemptions to be granted to institutional,
affordable housing and other forms of development;
· the requirement to incorporate a property tax/user charge capital
contribution credit In order to avoid double-charging (despite the fact
that the Act does not spec~cally reference same);
· the definition of residential unit types on which different development
charges are to be imposed and the substantiation of the occupancy and
other bases used for such differentiation (for example, as per Figure 5).
2.7 factor these cost components into a ~h flow analysis for both residential and
non-residential development, similar to the one set out in Figures 3 and 4
which follow. The assumptions and parameters would be adjusted until the
forecast "December 31 Development Charge Reserve Fund Balance" in Figure
4 is in a satisfactory state.
C.N. Watson and Associates Ltd.
2.8 prepare a report documen~ng these steps and assumptions, together with the
necessary administrative considerations. These include timing of collection,
collection for others, exemptions, level of non-residential charges, reserve fund
management, updating, special agreements, other vehicles to be used in
imposing charges, etc. As well, our report will provide staff with an outline
of responsibilities and critical dates to which certain functions must be
performed, in conformity with the requirements of the Act and Regulations.
2.9 present this report in draft form to Council, and then subsequently at at least
one public meeting, in compliance with the Act. A finalized report, together
with a response to any submissions made as a result of the public meeting
would be subsequently presented to Council for final consideration, prior to
the adoption of a Development Charges By-law, under the ACt.
3. Staff Resources
3.1 The project would be directed by Mr. Watson and carried out by one of the
firm's Associate Directors - Ms. C.L. Kllgour, M.C.I.P. or Mr. G.D. Scandian,
B.A. Input would be provided by these and other staff, depending on the
subjec area.
3.2 We would obtain from the Town, or its engineering consultants, detailed
information regarding growth-related projects, based generally on the format
set out in Figure 3. Where specific information is not available, we will
diso~q alternate approaches with staff. Figure 6 illustrates the overall
methodology involved.
3.3 It is assumed that the Town's solidtor would review and finalize the draft by-
law to be prepared by the consultant and participate in the study and public
meeting process as directed by Town.
3.4 A copy of the firm's "Outline of Experience and Qualifications" document
which details our experience in development charge studies and the
qualifications of the staff team to be involved, has been provided separately.
4. Timing
4.1 This project is expected to require a period of approximately nine months to
complete. Please note that the requirement for a public meeting and
associated work requires the provision of reasonable time allocations. We
would suggest that the timetable be based on adoption of a new by-law in
C.N. Watson and Associates Ltd.
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Spring, 1991. During the next several months we would seek to ensure that
the nece~___~_ ry costing and other data can be made available where required,
and that relevant reports prepared in the interim are generally consistent with
the study requirement. The substantive work would be done later this year,
with finalization and review occurring in 1991. This timetable wili enable us
to benefit from the experience of other larger municipalities. It will also
permit the work to he dovetailed with your 1991-95 capital budgeting and
fore **ting exercise.
5.1 The financial requirements of our firm to carry out this study, is in the order
of $20,000-$25,000 with payment net thirty days (plus G.S.T., wb~e
applicable). ~ includes 10 copiea of the draft report, one copy of the final
report (suitable for reproduction), two Committee/Council presentations and
the public meeting (required by the Act). Our billings are based on our fee
schedule, which ranges from ~ per hour for support staff to $150 per hour
(1990 $) for the writer, with disbursements invoiced at cost. In addition, the
budget relates to the report preparation and policy adoption only, and does
not cover time should an appeal materialize, or liability for the results thereof.
Also, any engineering, land appraisal (i.e. ~sh in lieu of parkland policy) or
legal costs which may be involved, have not been incorporated heroin.
5.2 Our budgetary requirement is, of course, a function of th~ amount of
consulting time required. A lower budget allocation could be produced by
either "off-loading" work tasks to Town staff or bv ?roducin~ a les~ thorou_e.h
tmalysis and _vroces___~. We believe, based on extensive exverienre, that the
ranee above is anprovriate to the task. We also believe that an inveslment of
this magnitude is justified in light of the Town's potential development charge
revenue and the nature of any appeal associated therewith. A cost variance
is involved because of variables such as public meeting input and availability
of project coat information, partio,l*rly for "hard" services.
6. ~
A copy of our Experience and Qualifications booklet is provided with this proposal.
Of partio~lJr importance is our past work in und~xlaking lot levy studies for
approximately fifty municipalities and local boards, and our demonstrated experience
in justifying our studies at Ontario Municipal Board hearings over a ten year period.
We have also worked with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, AMCTO, AMO and
other groupa, on the new Act. Currently, under the new Act, we are working on
C.N. Watson and Associates Ltd.
behaff of over fifty additional municipalities and local boards to establish
development charge studies and by-laws. The breadth of municipal size and context
involved will allow us to assess the requirements of the new Act in relation to widely
varying needs. This experience is a necessary part of developing a sound study to
justify at an OMB hearing, should the need arise.
We hope this outline meets your requirements and would be pleased to discuss it further,
if additional clarification is required. Should this proposal be acceptable to Town Council,
please so indicate by signing this agreement below and ret~ a copy to us as our
authorization to proceed.
Your~ very truly,
C.N. WATSON AND ASSOCIATES LTD.
C.N. Watson, CIVIC
on behalt of:.
FIGURE 2
DEVELOP~ ~ARGE POLICY - PRO/ECr ~UI~OdARY SHEET
I. Pro'pct 2. C~tegory
3. Approwl S~tu~
4. Des~ption/lnclu~lons
5. Basis for Growth-
Related Attribution
FIGURE 2 (Cont'd)
RECREATION AND LIBRARY GROWTH-RELATED CAPITAL PROIECT SHEETS
FACILITY TYPE:
1. Exlstlnz Inventory
Name Loc~Uon DescrlpUon Year Ch:tuned
1.1
1.2
1.4
1.5
1.6
z Sen,tc t4,v
Munldpal No. of Fadllltes
2.1 Ou~nUw Potmlatl~:m Fadlltl~ P~ Caoita
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1988
1989
Oe :dpt of
"Blended' Facility
Council-approved Servtee Level Standard:
3. CosRng Basis:
4. Unk tO Ten Year Flnandal Plan (and Prevtous Flv~t Year Expendittu~s):
4.1 Forecast Service Level Pe~ Capita
4.2 Cost Factor to Maintain Quality Standard