FAQs
Why are you proposing a new planning fee structure?
Planning fees for the municipality have not been updated in nearly 10 years, since 2012. The fees do not reflect the true cost to the municipality for planning services.
How did you arrive at the draft planning fee structure?
The Planning Department completed a time/task matrix for each type of planning application, determining the true cost of an application. The value reflects all hours needed by department members that contribute in the review and processing.
The time/task matrix indicates that costs to process planning applications are two to three times more than the fees set in 2012. Currently, the municipality is only recouping approximately 30-50% of the application review costs. The only application where cost recovery is close is that of Part Lot Control.
How much are planning fees going to increase?
Staff have recommended an increase of 10% for the majority of application fees.
Why are the proposed planning fees different than neighbouring municipalities?
Planning staff have created a comparison table of the County of Prince Edward's fees versus those of comparators. The review has included the comparator municipalities provided from the Clerk's Office as well as neighbouring municipalities.
Based on the review, municipal fees are not consistent and therefore difficult to compare for the purposes of increasing fees.
While the comparison table was not useful in estimating all updated fee values, the review did identify services that the comparators charge a fee but the County does not currently recoup the cost for offering. Fees for these services have been introduced in the schedule and the value has been estimated based on comparators and consideration for the current cost matrix for the planning division.
Will service levels improve with higher planning fees?
Planning staff have drafted the new fee structure based on service level requirements and what they believe will be acceptable in the marketplace.
To update all fees in relation to the time/ task matrix may be difficult to garner public support for; therefore, staff have recommended an increase of 10% for the majority of application fees.
Why is there a proposed 2% increase per year on top of the overall increase in many fees?
Many municipalities implement a nominal fee increase of 2% per year to ensure that the fee is responsive to inflationary pressures. County planning staff have proposed an annual 2% adjustment of fees.