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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFCS-15-184 - Municipal Consent Plan Review Fee REPORT TO: Committee of the Whole DATE OF MEETING: December 14, 2015 SUBMITTED BY: Ryan Hagey, Director of Financial Planning 519-741-2200 x 7353 PREPARED BY: Ryan Hagey, Director of Financial Planning 519-741-2200 x 7353 Greg McTaggart, Manager of Infrastructure Asset Planning 519-741-2200 x 7634 WARD(S) INVOLVED: All DATE OF REPORT: December 10, 2015 REPORT NO.: FCS-15-184 SUBJECT: Municipal Consent Plan Review Fee ___________________________________________________________________________ RECOMMENDATION: That the 2016 user fee for Municipal Consent Plan Review be increased from $290 to $588.56 per review application. BACKGROUND: The City charges the Municipal Consent Plan Review fee to utilities that for the review and approval of proposed new infrastructure to be installed by the utility company in a city right-of-way. REPORT: The City has successfully negotiated a municipal access agreement with one of the utility companies that does work within Kitchener. A municipal access agreement sets the operating terms for a utility company that has infrastructure installed within a city road right-of-way, and among many things includes a standard fee to be charged to the company by the City for review and approval of proposed new infrastructure to be installed by the utility company in a city right-of-way. This fee is called the Municipal Consent Plan Review fee, and was increased to $588.56 per application for this particular agreement. It is the City intention to enter into similar agreements with all of the other utilities, including the higher review fee, but until all of the agreements are successfully negotiated, some utilities will be paying a higher rate than others. To ensure parity amongst the utilities, staff are proposing to increase the fee for everyone to $588.56. The higher fee is a better reflection of the amount of staff effort required to properly review each application. *** This information is available in accessible formats upon request. *** Please call 519-741-2345 or TTY 1-866-969-9994 for assistance. 6. - 1 ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN: The recommendation of this report supports the achievement of the city’s strategic vision through the delivery of core service. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: Increasing the fee to $588.56 could cause increased revenue of up to $12,500 based on previous volumes. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: INFORM – This report has been posted to the City’s website with the agenda in advance of the council / committee meeting. PREVIOUS CONSIDERATION OF THIS MATTER: User fees for 2016 were considered under report FCS-15-104. ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Dan Chapman, Deputy CAO, Finance and Corporate Services 6. - 2