WHEREAS the Community Charter allows municipalities to pay for road, sewer and water infrastructure works through a collection of Development Cost Charges; AND WHEREAS new developments impact the ability of municipalities to provide appropriate protective services equipment, such as fire fighting equipment: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of British Columbia Municipalities support a change in legislation allowing municipalities to collect Development Cost Charges for major protective services capital projects.
Ministry of Community Services The suggestion that Development Cost Charges DCC be used to fund more services has been reviewed by the Development Finance Review Committee DFRC, which has provided technical advice to the Ministry for the past ten years. The DFRC, chaired by the Ministry of Community Services, includes representatives of local government, the Province, the development, building and real estate industries and the planning profession. There is a reasonable degree of consensus among DFRC members that DCCs are appropriate where new development requires key infrastructure sewer, water, drainage, roads and parks for the development to proceed. DCCs are based on the principle of user pay that infrastructure should be paid by those who use and benefit from it. In contrast, protective services are more appropriately paid for by the greater community, since the benefits of the services are shared by all property owners.