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Less money upfront for Niven land Nicole Veerman Northern News Services Published Wednesday, June 29, 2011
The price of the 37 available lots in Phase VII includes $57,000 each for developing roads and utilities - water, sewer, electrical - in the subdivision. The local improvement charge bylaw, which was supported by city councillors Shelagh Montgomery, Cory Vanthuyne and Bob Brooks, will allow landowners the opportunity to pay that portion of the land cost over a 15-year period, rather than upfront. Vanthuyne said he supports the bylaw because it will allow landowners to spend more money on developing their lots. "That (money) can go directly back into their pockets and be used specifically for designs and features they want to put into their home," he said. "They'd be glad and happy to have that kind of money available for their actual home as opposed to putting it into land costs." Lots in Phase VII range from $116,800 to $193,000. The local improvement charge will allow the purchaser of a lot the option of paying $57,000 worth of that cost monthly over 15 years, with their taxes or in full. Money owed on the local improvement charge is transferable should the property owner sell it before it has been paid off. Coun. David Wind voted against the charge, saying he didn't see the benefit. He said paying a local improvement charge over 15 years would limit the size of the mortgage the landowner is eligible for, rather than leave more money to develop the lot. "In this situation, there's not any additional money being made available in order to allow a prospective homeowner to develop the lot. The mortgage qualification process takes into account the taxes, whether they be regular taxes or levied taxes in the form of a local improvement, they take them into account in order to calculate what the purchaser of the property would eligible for in terms of the mortgage," he said. Wind said he also didn't see the benefit to the city because it would take 15 years for it to recoup the more than $2 million the charge would put into local improvement at Phase VII. The total cost of installing the necessary utilities and roads in Phase VII is more than $4.2 million. According to a council memorandum, the local improvement charge would be debt financed, while the remaining 50 per cent of the cost would be funded through the city's land development fund. Couns. Paul Falvo, Amanda Mallon and Lydia Bardak were absent during third reading. Mark Heyck was acting as deputy mayor and did not vote.
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