Wellington North resident Jens Dam, whose Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) appeal resulted in council having to rescind its development charges bylaw, wants answers in relation to $80,000 in refunds he says were improperly returned.
“I have a hard time getting answers on how the money was handed back,” Dam said after making a presentation to council at its meeting on Monday.
Council attempted to change its development charge bylaw several months ago, wanting to bring in a lower rate than the existing $17,000 fee for a single family dwelling with municipal services.
Council proceeded with a new bylaw, setting a fee of $10,000, but that was challenged by Dam at the OMB, which found the township could not pass a new development charges bylaw without an extensive study required by provincial legislation.
The OMB ordered the township to rescind that lower fees, for which council had given refunds to developers worth $80,691, according to information provided to Dam under the Freedom of Information Act.
“I believe this amount represents unlawful diversion of funds from [the] development charges account to developers and builders,” Dam said in his presentation to council.
“Furthermore my request for information regarding insufficient development charges collected is not reflected in the financial statement.”
The township resident is also calling for an independent audit of how the collection and refunds were processed.
Dam said he is prepared to again take the issue to the OMB if the township does not provide answers.
“Council will take your request under consideration,” Mayor Ray Tout told him.
Later councillor Andy Lennox tabled a motion calling for the township to bring in a “transparency and accountability” policy.
He did not say if his motion was in reaction to how the development charges issue has been handled.
Instead, he said it is a requirement of the Municipal Act.
Lennox wants staff to have customer service training and is calling for the township to freeze council pay at 2012 levels until 2016.
The three motions will come to council for discussion in May and June.
A request by a reporter for copies of the Lennox motions adopted by council was at first refused by chief administrative officer Lori Heinbuch, but that decision was overridden by Tout.
Lennox has already called for changes to the way job reviews of top staff are conducted, a process already moved ahead with the hiring of a Waterloo-based law firm to assist council.
