Offsite Levy Overview Presentation to Wheatland County W351 C04-00130
What is an offsite levy? A tool used by municipalities to pay for or recover capital costs incurred for infrastructure improvements required for new development An equitable way to distribute capital costs of offsite infrastructure to all who benefit growth pays for itself! Collected once for each type of infrastructure from lands subject to development or subdivision within the recovery area 2
What is an offsite levy? MGA outlines the requirement for offsite levy financial reporting and tracking of the levy funds Funds cannot be used towards payment of operational costs or ongoing maintenance of infrastructure Funds can be used to pay for infrastructure outside of the development area, where it s development triggers offsite or downstream infrastructure upgrades 3
Authority to Collect Offsite Levies Alberta Municipal Affairs has provided municipalities the authority, under the Municipal Government Act (MGA) Division 6, to set and collect offsite levy rates through the adoption of an Offsite Levy Bylaw What authority does Wheatland County have? Subject to the provisions in the Bylaw, the County periodically reviews the off-site levy rates and adjust accordingly to reflect estimated construction costs, updated interest or carrying costs To ensure that the Offsite Levy Bylaw remains up-to-date and in line with the current County Master Development Plan, Council may amend or review the off-site levy projects and corresponding benefitting parties at an interval as prescribed in the Bylaw 4
Type of Infrastructure Included in the Levy Eligible offsite infrastructure within Wheatland County includes the following: New or expanded facilities for water supply, transmission, storage and treatment New or expanded facilities for collection, storage/treatment and disposal of storm sewer New or expanded roads required for or impacted by a development or subdivision New or expanded facilities for collection, treatment and disposal of sanitary sewer Community services (i.e: police, fire, ambulance, library) Land required with for each infrastructure Community & recreation (i.e: parks, arenas, etc.) 5
Recovery Areas + The Levy contemplates an area spanning between Township Roads 220 and 221, and stretching about 14.6km from Range Road 270 up to Range Road 253 to the east covering approximately 18.5 sections of land including the entire Goldfinch ASP areas, Carseland ASP, and Speargrass ASP up to the river edge as shown on the following slides. 6
Recovery Areas 7
Recovery Areas 8
Financing Wheatland County includes the cost of financing the infrastructure in it s offsite levies 9
Recovery Units Land area is typically used as a basis for recovering Transportation Potable Water Wastewater Land Acquisition Engineering 10
Transportation, Potable Water and Wastewater Levies Transportation and Potable Water Levies Allocated equally as these improvements are deemed to be of benefit over the entire recovery area Wastewater levies Allocated to specific catchment areas as improvements are deemed to benefit development in those areas 11
Surface Water Management All stormwater drainage is directed to various creeks or natural drainage channels at a controlled release Stormwater facilities are 100% developer funded within their developments. Regional facilities are subject to levy collection 12
Payments of Offsite Levies The offsite levy must be paid at the time dictated by the County during the development process 13
Benefits of Offsite Levies to Developers Levies provide a level playing field for developers in an area that requires infrastructure upgrades due to increase development Without an established levy, development agreement conditions are required for those looking to develop which may require individual developers to shoulder upfront costs associated with necessary upgrades that others within the area will benefit from. This could drastically impact a projects financial viability By having the County manage infrastructure improvements, the developer significantly reduces the amount of work they are required to do upfront for a development application. 14
What is an IMP? Status of the IMP Infrastructure Master Plan What will the IMP do? An Infrastructure Master Plan (IMP) is a planning document used by the County to identify existing infrastructure improvements needed to maintain levels of services as well as the infrastructure required to support growth at various development horizons Preparation of an IMP is currently ongoing to identify the required potable, storm and sanitary infrastructure improvements within the recovery area Output from the IMP study will be a critical input in determining the Offsite Levy rates 15
Questions?