BC’s Best Practice Guides intended to promote housing affordability still often result in poor practice. An example is the guide for Development Cost Charges, which says DCC’s must be applied with “Fairness and Equity, Accountability, and Certainty.”
“Certainty should be built into the DCC process, both in terms of stable charges and orderly construction of infrastructure. Stability of DCC rates will assist the development industry in the planning of their projects.”
These charges clearly lack fairness, equity, accountability and stability. It is unfair and lacking equity for new homebuyers to pay high fees, then pay again annually as residents via property taxes.
There is no accountability because the CRD Board is not elected directly by voters. Of course boosting DCC’s by thousand dollars for each new home is the opposite of stability.
It’s absurd for the CRD, municipalities and the BC government to talk about the importance of housing affordability, while gouging new homebuyers, (provided the housing can even be built under the weight of theses excessive fees).
It is not enough for the province to boost housing density, they must also cap these outrageously high fees and enforce the fairness, equity, accountability and certainty claimed in the DCC Best Practices Guide. Otherwise, Best Practice Guides offer little benefit to British Columbians for whom housing affordability is the #1 priority according to surveys.
Contact your local council, CRD and MLA and Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Housing, and Anne Kang, Minister of Municipal Affairs about this issue. They will also receive a letter from VRBA expressing our concerns.