The fallout from a key court decision in November 2011 is starting to show up in how some Alberta municipalities collect fees from the development industry.
The Town of Canmore ceased collecting recreation levies from developers in early 2012, thanks to an Alberta Court of Appeal decision in a case involving the Town of Okotoks and a developer in that community.
The court essentially ruled that Okotoks was imposing off-site levies not allowed for under the province's Municipal Government Act (MGA), and that those levies were not obtained under a voluntary agreement between the developer and the town.
The issue was summed up in a circular from the prominent Alberta municipal law firm of Fraser Milner Casgrain.
"The result for now is that these sorts of [non-voluntary] levies [for recreation facilities, engineering reviews, water licences] are no longer legally permissible," the firm said.
The court found "that a municipality cannot use its natural person powers in a coercive fashion such as this and has no lawful authority to impose payment of offsite levies which are not specified in Section 648 of the MGA."
While Canmore has ceased collecting recreation levies in the short term, the Bow Valley Builders and Developers Association, which represents the local development community, says it will continue to pay such levies in the long term, acknowledging their benefit to the community.
– Compiled by Dave Husdal
from Western Investor May 2012
