Planning and development services proposes 4% increase on charges, fees

By Medicine Hat News on November 18, 2022.

New charges and fees for planning and development services for 2023 and 2024 were discussed at Thursday’s meeting of the Economic, Land and Strategic Planning and Development committee, with a general increase of 4% proposed due to inflation.

A comparison against similar fees and charges in six Alberta municipalities indicated that Medicine Hat’s fees “generally fall within the lower half” of the group, according to Thursday’s agenda. In areas where Medicine Hat’s fees are considerably below the average – such as for telecommunications line assignments – planning and development services is proposing an additional increase beyond the 4% for inflation in order to bring it more in line with the average.

Planning and development services is also proposing an additional increase for development agreement charges, as “the cost of staff resources needed to complete this type of application requires substantially more” than the current fees cover.

Planning and development services has also suggested lesser fee amounts for applications related to types of development encouraged in policy. For example, a separate category has been added for Land Use Amendment – Rezoning (Intensification), with a lesser fee amount for that type of application due to it being supported by city council’s Strategic Plan and the Municipal Development Plan.

The service’s 5% surcharge for e-permitting is proposed to continue, with revenue used to pay for ongoing support from the software vendor and an upcoming upgrade.

Calder Crescent paving project

Medicine Hat’s Energy and Infrastructure Committee met Thursday to discuss a proposed land improvement project for paving on Calder Crescent.

The project would come with a cost of $73,910.

The short-term plan would require a new city assets budget item to cover the cost, however those costs to design and pave the existing gravel land would be recovered from the affected properties through a local improvement assessment on municipal taxes.

Property owners from 11-47 and 53-77 Calder Cres. petitioned the city clerk for the paving improvement. City crews then reviewed the design and requirements before deter

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