A resident who successfully challenged a bid by Wellington North council to retroactively bring in a new development charge bylaw is now facing a possible libel lawsuit from the township.
Jens Dam has been given until June 15 to publicly apologize for statements he made about the township, and in particular chief administrative officer and clerk Lori Heinbuch, concerning the municipality’s pay out of about $80,000 in development charge refunds.
Dam has claimed the payback constituted an “illegal and fraudulent use of taxpayer money,” because it was done without a formal, public resolution by council. He claims without a council resolution sanctioning the refunds, township staff had no authority to allow those payments.
“There has been no order in council to pay it back,” Dam said. “You can’t just dip in the till and give money away.”
The township has not released information regarding the libel suit. Mayor Ray Tout would say only that it is in response to Dam’s claims about township officials’ improper handling of the refunds.
“He [Dam] is walking a fine line,” the mayor said, referring to Dam’s ongoing dispute with the township over development charges and refunds. “You’ve got to support staff. He’s making allegations.”
The issue first came about when Dam successfully challenged council’s decision to retroactively reduce development charges to about $10,000 for single family homes. A previous bylaw passed by the former council set those charges at $17,500.
Dam appealed that decision to the Ontario Municipal Board and won. The OMB ruled council had failed to take the proper steps needed to pass a new bylaw, including a formal study and public meeting.
Both were completed prior to the passing of the original bylaw.
Development charges were a hot issue in the last municipal election and lowering them was a key point throughout Tout’s campaign and eventual election to the mayor’s post. The mayor and most of the new council maintain that lower development charges will spur growth.
Development charges are levied to pay the costs of infrastructure related to growth. Fees not collected by the township are thus covered by residential property taxes.
Council eventually undertook a study that supported lowering the development charge and held a public meeting on May 10. At its May 28 meeting, council passed the new bylaw. The new fees have been set at $12,000 until the end of 2012 and will rise to $14,000 until Aug. 31, 2013.
Dam said he has no intention of apologizing to anyone.
“If I don’t apologize by Friday they are going to sue me for unspecified damages for tarnishing their reputations,” he said. “If the township had followed the rules we wouldn’t be into this.”
Referring to a possible court hearing if the township proceeds with its libel suit, Dam added, “It will be up to the court to determine if they can do what they want.”
