DEVELOPMENT CHARGE FREEZE:COSTLY FOR TAXPAYERS

A proposed freeze on development charges could shift over $7 million a year to property taxes and water rates. Planned increases in the fees have been chopped by $1,500 a house as a result of recent meetings between city staff and the Hamilton Halton Home Builders Association (HHHBA), but the developer umbrella group is continuing to press for no increase at all.
Staff are now recommending that the developer of each new single–family house pay $26,967 to cover the city’s growth costs. That’s an increase of $7,394 over the current rate and would place Hamilton 20th out of 25 comparative Ontario cities. 
Development charges are supposed to pay most of the costs for expanded roads, sewer/water pipes, storm sewers and recreational facilities, as well as some of the extra capital spending for police, fire, library and other services. 
The proposed increases are mainly driven by the need to expand water and sewer treatment and distribution facilities that are already over capacity because of previous growth. That portion of the charges is climbing $7,778 per house, while combined fees to cover other infrastructure is actually declining by $384.