Proposed fee changes give Airdrie city council 'sticker shock'

After expressing their dismay and shock at proposed changes to the New User Fee and Charges Bylaw, Airdrie City Council decided to table the proposed bylaw and instead opted to revisit the issue with a public council meeting later. 

The majority of councillors said that the presentation on Tuesday to council did not offer enough comparisons to previous years' user fees and many felt that some of the fees were not enumerated and justified. Meghan Bigney of Budget and Financial Planning with The City highlighted some proposed fee changes. 

On Tuesday, City Council was presented with which fees would change in the coming months in the City. (Graphic credit to City of Airdrie)

Which fees were slated to change?

"The majority of RCMP administration fees and charges are proposed at full cost recovery. There was one charge within RCMP administration regarding name changes for criminal record checks," Bigney said.

The proposed change to the name change fee would increase $21 in 2025 to $71. 

There were several changes suggested for Parks, which included the ball diamonds, sports fields as well as cemetery fees.

"[The] Majority of these charges were made to align with the market average. For the youth ball diamonds and sports fields, the quality of the fields was compared to the market when determining the proposed fees for 2025. Passes and admissions and facility rentals are seeing fees increased to align with market average rates except the Veteran's Pass, which proposes a special discount for 2025."

On Tuesday, City Council was presented with which fees would change in the coming months in the City. (Graphic credit to City of Airdrie)

Councillor Heather Spearman said she was vehemently opposed to some of the user fee changes with regards to cemeteries.

"The fact that we're increasing the child and baby casket space so much - I wasn’t okay with that right out of the gate. I realize we're extremely limited in space, but that's one area where I am not willing to increase the fee."

City documents show that a child or infant casket fee would rise over $100 to $1,323, though this was noted as being the 'market average'. 

Councillor Darrell Belyk, on the other hand, stated that while it has been recommended to charge out-of-town users more for certain services, he was worried about the fact that only the ball diamonds were slated for a user fee change in that regard.

Another topic, many councillors said they had many reservations about was user fees at Genesis Place. Nearly all the proposed fee changes to Genesis Place were slated to be increased.

Nearly all Genesis Place fees were proposed to be hiked during a presentation to Airdrie City Council. (Graphic credit to City of Airdrie)

However, Councillor Spearman said that the previous user fee hikes were her limit.

"A lot of people were upset about the Genesis Place fees... But I think we are getting really out of hand with our costs, especially at Genesis Place," she added. "As it stands, these increases for me, whether it's Genesis Place, whether it's transit, whether it's the facility fees, it's confusing. I don't buy it and I don't support it."

Bigney said that transit would also see minor changes in fees to align with the market average.

"... With senior monthly passes decreasing $3.15 in 2025. As with other community services, transit user fees and charges will also take place on September 1, 2024. While home-based businesses and commercial businesses are proposed to align with the market, non-resident businesses are proposed in the third year of the phased-in approach approved by council in 2022."

She added that non-resident businesses are being subsidized by the tax base at 20 per cent, which she underlined was lower than the market average.

"Waste and Recycling is proposing slight increases to fees and collection carts and the transfer site to align with the market average."

On Tuesday, City Council was presented with which fees would change in the coming months in the City. (Graphic credit to City of Airdrie)

City documents stated that The User Fees and Charges, 'provide revenue to the City and allow for a more equitable user pay system, rather than flowing all costs through the tax and utility rates.'

"To give an idea of the revenue change these fees represent, based on 2024 volumes, the additional revenue generated is estimated at $1.2 million.  These rates will be used in the creation of the 2025 budget, along with updated volumes as projections are calculated," the agenda report stated. 

Councillor Tina Petrow, echoed several other councillors' statements, saying that there was key information missing.

"I would love to see this item tabled and information come back to us as far as comparisons between last year and this year, as well as the market rate comparisons; we generally get every single time we have this conversation. I haven't seen them today," she said. 

She also noted that some fees, such as the Open-Air Burning Permit which would see a proposed increase of over $60 are not justified without more details.

"I think what we're missing here is detail. In our mind's eye, it's sticker shock because we don't have that justification in our mind. It leaves us to make our own assumptions as to why those increases might be and it makes us uncomfortable," Deputy Mayor Al Jones surmised.

If the New User Fees and Charges Bylaw had been passed, new user fees and charges would have been effective September 1, 2024, and January 1, 2025, as outlined in the Bylaw. No specific date for the public council meeting has been set as of yet.

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