Residential development charges will rise, while commercial and industrial charges will fall under a new bylaw passed by council on April 16.
Council approved the bylaw, which updates rates in place since 2009, following a public meeting and the presentation of a development charges background study by Dan Wilson of Watson and Associates Economists Ltd.
Wilson noted the consultants facilitated a council workshop, looked at historical data and conducted extensive discussions with township staff in the course of preparing the study, which indicates Mapleton’s current residential and commercial development charges are the second lowest among 13 other comparison municipalities ranging in size from the Town of Minto to the City of Kitchener.
“You’re fairly low on the list. Only Minto is below you,” Wilson told council. However, he pointed out, “that could change, as Minto is currently going through this process.”
The report recommended moving township charges on single detached dwellings from $7,119 to $11,785. Combined with county ($2,805) and education ($1,884) levies, total development charges on a single detached residence in Mapleton will be $16,474. The builder of a single detached residence in Minto currently pays $3,901 to the municipality, plus the same county and education charges as in Mapleton, bringing the total there to $11,808.
Development charges for three other Wellington County municipalities were cited in the comparison study. The highest residential rate of the three is charged in Centre Wellington, at $18,578, followed by Erin at $17,957 and Wellington North at $15,344. County and education development charges are the same in all Wellington municipalities.
Waterloo had the highest lower tier rate on the list, at $12,025, but regional and education charges bumped the figure to $31,688.
Guelph had the highest municipal charge for a single detached dwelling, at $27,639. With only education charges to be added, the total bill for a builder in that city came in at $29,523.
Wilson noted the new commercial rates reflect previous discussions, in which council indicated intent to encourage business development.
“Your commercial rate is actually going down, so you’re giving a bit of a break to commercial developers in your area,” he said.
The study proposed lowering the rates for commercial and industrial development in Mapleton from $3.21 per square foot of gross floor area to $3 in urban areas and $2.61 in rural areas. The new commercial and industrial rates for urban areas include an 18.3 per cent exemption for non-residential development in areas currently serviced for water and wastewater. Again, only Minto, at $1.47 per square foot, has a lower commercial charge among the surveyed municipalities. The Town of Erin has the highest rate in Wellington, at $7.09, higher than all surveyed municipalities except Guelph.
Wellington North, at $2.62, has a slightly higher industrial
rate than the new Mapleton rural industrial rate.
County charges add $1.78 per square foot to the total for commercial or industrial development across Wellington.
The highest total commercial or industrial rate in the comparison group was for Waterloo, where a $6.25 city charge combines with a $9.79 regional fee and a $1.23 education levy, adding $17.27 per square foot to the cost of commercial development.
The new bylaw also includes charges of $7,260 for wind turbines and telecommunications towers and $2.55 per square foot for solar farms.
Councillor Dennis Craven asked if the charge would apply to solar panels utilized only to generate power for individual properties and not connected to the grid. Wilson responded the charge would only apply to solar panels producing power intended for sale.
The study projects Mapleton’s population will grow from about 10,400 to just over 13,000 in the next 20 years. Anticipated capital needs to accommodate growth are pegged at $15.9 million, of which about 75% or around $12 million are recoverable through development charges.
Council accepted the background study and approved the new rates as presented.
