Development Services Department Building Branch

Transcription

1 Development Services Department Building Branch Public Meeting - December 5, 2012 Proposed 2013 Building Permit Fees

2 Purpose On March 14, 2012, Town Council provided the following direction to staff: That prior to the 2013 Municipal Budget deliberations, staff in the Development Services Department, in consultation with other Town staff, municipalities and agencies, as necessary, report back to the Development Services Committee with a detailed analysis of the proposed 2013 Building Permit Fees. Staff Report DS is presented to recommend fee amendments for 2013.

3 Municipalities are responsible for ensuring that building and development is undertaken in accordance with the provisions of the Building Code Act. To offset the costs of providing these services, municipalities are permitted to charge fees when issuing building permits. Over the past number of months, the Town s Chief Building Official (CBO) and other municipal members of the Muskoka Parry Sound Chapter of the Ontario Building Code Association have met regarding fees being charged by their municipalities.

4 On May 1, 2012, a meeting was held with the Muskoka Parry Sound Chapter of the Ontario Building Code Association to discuss opportunities to: Standardize Building Permit Categories; and Standardize building-related revenue categories

5 On May 1, 2012, the local area CBOs agreed that local area municipalities would utilize the Township of Muskoka Lakes fee schedule as a starting point to standardize fee schedules (Appendix C to Staff Report DS040-12). The Muskoka Lakes building fee by-law was deemed to best exemplify the ability to standardize: building permit fee categories; and building-related revenue categories.

6 Since May 2012, the Town of Bracebridge is the first municipality within the Muskoka Parry Sound Chapter of the Ontario Building Code Association to recommend an up-date to the municipality s building fees by-law. The proposed fees by-law has been developed utilizing the Muskoka Lakes Building Fees By-law model, created by the member CBOs of the Association. The Building Branch continues to work towards recommending fees which reflect full cost recovery within the parameters of the Ontario Building Code Act, operating on permit revenue basis without utilizing the tax levy, whenever possible.

7 To reach that objective, some small fee increases are being recommended. The imposition of fees on applicants and the recommended increase takes into consideration the cost of administration and enforcement of the Building Code Act. A municipality may also rely on a portion of property tax revenues to supplement the function of the Building Branch s activities, but this is only done when revenues do not meet expenses.

8 Section of Ontario Regulation 403/97, regulating the Building Code Act, defines the cost of service delivery and is broken down into 2 categories: Direct costs of administration and enforcement of the Act includes the review of applications for permits and inspections of buildings; and Indirect costs of administration and enforcement of the Act, including support and overhead costs.

9 The following chart summarizes the cost of service delivery for the Town s Building Branch, based on the approved 2012 Municipal Budget: Direct Costs Wages/benefits $ 356,800 Other $ 98,900 Total Direct Costs $ 455,700 Indirect Costs General Government allocation $ 58,000 Planning Branch allocation $ 20,000 Total Estimated Indirect Costs $ 78,000 Total Estimated Cost of Service Delivery $ 533,700 Total Budgeted Revenue $ (363,200) Net Tax Levy related to Service Delivery $ 170,500

10 Conclusions Staff will continue to monitor the calculation of the cost of administering a building permit application from first submission to final inspection being completed. Staff will continue the analysis of the Building Branch activities to determine the time spent on various components of building services as well as an hourly rate for Building Branch activities.

11 Conclusions Appendix D to Staff Report DS compares the proposed 2013 fee schedule with the existing 2012 fee schedule, as set out in By-law The building permit fee categories have been simplified and grouped into 13 categories and separated from administrative fees. These sets of fees are now recommended to be in two separate schedules.

12 Conclusions Appendix E to Staff Report DS shows an estimated cost comparison for a 2,000 square foot residential dwelling in various comparator municipalities, including Gravenhurst, Huntsville and Muskoka Lakes. The proposed Bracebridge building fees are similar to or lower than those charged by other comparator municipalities. Staff are of the opinion that the proposed fees will allow Bracebridge to continue to remain competitive with surrounding communities, both inside and outside of the District of Muskoka.

13 Public Comments Received to Date In an , received on November 16, 2012, Bracebridge Resident, Mr. Murray Jackson, commented on the proposed building permit fees request for comments as follows: These fees should be set at the maximum permitted level. Costs should be fully covered so that the general taxpayer is not saddled with any sort of cost. Murray Jackson Bracebridge Resident