Fee hikes
Town council has roughly tripled some of its corporate fees to bring Morinville in line with the regional average, but has held off on similar hikes for meeting rooms pending community consultation.
Morinville council voted Oct. 8 to adopt a new fee policy and to bring its planning and economic development, corporate and financial services, business licence and fire services fees in line with the median rate set by nine Edmonton-area communities. Councillors also called on administration to talk with community groups about similar changes to community service and Community Cultural Centre fees.
Council elected not to change its pet licensing fees as the town has a lifetime licensing fee that is quite different from the annual fees used by the region.
Council got a consultant’s report last month on how almost all of the town’s fees were substantially below the regional average. The report recommended the town bring the fees up to the median to raise more money.
The new fee policy states the town will set its fees based on cost recovery, market prices and affordability, and shall review its fees at least every three years and at budget time when possible. Fees may rise up to two per cent a year for inflation, with community service and cultural centre fees increases capped at 10 per cent per year.
Council received a report last week showing how fees would change if set at the median. While a handful would go down, most would go up by tens to hundreds of dollars, with the fee for a new area structure plan rising some $3,275. Subdivision approval or endorsement extension fees would see the biggest proportionate increase at 208 per cent (to $308 from $100).
The report projected steep hikes to community fees if they were brought to the median. The four-hour rate for a meeting room would jump 544 per cent to $161, for example, while the rate for an adult group to rent a school gymnasium on a weekday would climb to $58 an hour – a 287-per-cent increase.
Mayor Barry Turner said some of these changes were “a bit much” but noted some fees had not been changed for many years (some were last set in 2011) and that it was important for them to be comparable to those of the region. The town definitely needed to talk more with residents before it considered changes to community fees.
Town corporate services director Shawna Jason said she would soon bring a bylaw to council to implement these fee changes. Under the town’s new policy, those new fees, should the bylaw be approved, would kick in Jan. 1. New community service and cultural centre fees are enacted by Aug. 1 under the policy.
The new fees will add about $37,400 to the town’s coffers a year, a report to council found – about $62,100 if the community service fees also change.
No audio fix
Morinville residents will have to live with lousy sound at the Community Cultural Centre now that council has voted down a proposal to fix the A/V systems in the facility’s meeting rooms.
Council voted 4-3 against a motion to spend $45,000 to replace the audio-visual systems in the cultural centre’s meeting rooms, dressing rooms and lobby (Turner and councillors Sarah Hall and Lawrence Giffin in favour) Oct. 8.
Council moved last budget to put $45,000 toward upgrades to the sound system in the centre’s main hall. Community services director David Schaefer said further study found an effective fix for the hall’s sound problems would actually cost about $175,000, not including possible roof upgrades. He recommended delaying this fix until 2021.
Instead, Schaefer recommended redirecting this cash toward the A/V systems in the lobby and meeting and dressing rooms. The audio systems in these locations haven’t worked in three years and the interface systems for the projectors in the meeting rooms need to be replaced.
“Our meeting rooms are used every day,” Schaefer said, and users often use the video systems for presentations.
Hall supported the idea, saying it is unfair for the town to be looking at doubling or tripling its rates for meeting rooms if those rooms didn’t have this basic service.
“If we don’t do it now, I fear that it’s not going to get done for five to 10 years,” she said, and groups like Rotary who are already lugging their own A/V gear to meetings here would go elsewhere.
Coun. Scott Richardson opposed the move, saying most groups don’t need the A/V systems and suggesting the town could save money by just outfitting a couple of rooms with them.
“I think we need to do a better job of trying to spend less money.”
