Officials to Queen's Park: Fee freeze to aid home building hurts local taxpayers

LONDON, ON – The London-area conservation authority is pushing to reverse a freeze on its planning approval fees imposed by the province in a move to cut red tape and speed up new home construction.

A letter drafted by the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) — whose jurisdiction is the Upper Thames River watershed that covers about 3,500 square kilometres, home to nearly 600,000 people — hopes to influence Ontario’s natural resources minister, Graydon Smith, to reverse the freeze on planning, development and permitting fees.

So far, the letter has garnered support from about two-thirds of leaders from the 17 municipalities within the organization's district, says its board chair, Brian Petrie.

All 36 conservation authorities in the province are subject to the fee freeze. But with rapidly booming municipalities like London and Woodstock in its jurisdiction, the Upper Thames watershed is one of the fastest growing regions in Ontario, and population growth means a big uptick in planning, development and permit applications.

“That means more staff, more resources to make sure meeting the timelines that comes with costs,” Petrie said, adding the inability to raise fees means the expenses will be passed on to local municipalities..

"We're talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars across the whole watershed where that could be recovered and not put on the tax base (through higher fees). But right now we don't have any other choice."

The freeze was instituted to aid the provincial government’s push to build 1.5 million homes by 2031. But since its implementation, the freeze has undergone two extensions — first until December 2023, and later until the end of 2024.

“This freeze keeps the government’s commitment to reduce fees that impact housing prices,” read a statement from Smith’s office. “Conservation authorities that are unable to offset increasing costs may work with municipalities to find efficiencies in other areas.”

The letter, which so far includes backing from municipal leaders such as London Mayor Josh Morgan and Zorra Township Mayor, Marcus Ryan, acknowledges the provincial government’s need for more housing, but costs associated with development shouldn’t be put on taxpayers.

“The use of fees to fund this type of program ensures that those benefiting from development are paying for it – growth pays for growth,” the letter reads.

Said Petrie: “If there's an identified service that's benefiting a certain user group, they should be paying for that service . . . so it's not put on the general population.”

The letter is still making its rounds to the remaining municipalities in the Upper Thames jurisdiction before it's sent off to Queen's Park in September, Petrie said.

The letter points out the importance of conservation authorities in ensuring development is completed in a timely and safe manner, and that they're necessary to provide services that “meet the province’s goals without increasing the burden of current rate payers.”

Officials in Smith's office say a decision will be made after the freeze ends on Jan. 1, 2025, about "whether or not to extend the freeze."

Brian Williams is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter with the London Free Press. Top image: Graydon Smith, Ontario's minister of natural resources, speaks in Dawn-Euphemia Township near Sarnia on July 12, 2024 (Paul Morden/Postmedia Network).