An increase in education development charges (EDCs) comes into effect today.
At a meeting last week, the Simcoe County District School Board passed a new EDC bylaw. It will increase the rates for residential development to $1,611 per unit from $1,311, while charges for non-residential development will rise two cents, to 37 cents per square foot of gross floor area.
The EDCs are the board’s only means of funding the purchase of new school sites, and they only apply to new development.
Board chair Jodi Lloyd said trustees are “appreciative” of the province allowing an increase, but she feels it’s still not adequate to meet the board’s needs.
“We’re still significantly under-collecting in what would be required for new school sites in the future,” she said. “We need to purchase numerous sites within the next 10 years.”
The board was originally planning to increase residential EDCs by more than $3,000 to catch up with the increasing cost of land, but during that process, the province put a freeze on the charges while it conducted a review. That review is ongoing.
“Hopefully, they come back with a plan to address that shortfall. The cost of land is certainly not decreasing,” Lloyd said.
Under the bylaw passed last week, EDC increases will be phased in.
By October 2022, the rate for residential development would be $2,811 per unit — well below what the board had initially hoped to have in place by now.
When the province is finished with its review, Lloyd hopes either the board will be able to collect more EDCs than it is planning to now or there will be a new strategy.
“It may not be a massive increase. It could be an entirely different approach,” she said.
When the board was looking to increase the rates a year ago, it had been five years since the EDC bylaw had been updated. That’s why the proposed hike was substantial, and it didn’t sit well with developers and municipal politicians, who made their opposition known during board meetings.
That wasn’t the case this time. Lloyd said she hadn’t heard any concerns about the $300 increase and the board did not receive any requests for delegations regarding EDCs.
The Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board will hold a public meeting June 5, when it is expected trustees will vote on a new EDC bylaw. The meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. at the board office on Alliance Boulevard in Barrie.
