Off-Site Levy Bylaw and Project

The City of Fort Saskatchewan is in the process of updating the City’s current Off-Site Levy Bylaw (Bylaw C14-17). This work includes the existing offsite levy areas and developing offsite levies for the Future Urban Areas (as defined in the City of Fort Saskatchewan Municipal Development Plan).

Introduction to Offsite Levies

An offsite levy is a charge collected by a municipality from developers to construct the infrastructure that is necessary to develop more than one neighbourhood. Levies benefit the municipality and developers by providing a cost sharing tool that supports infrastructure investments. These costs are assigned to the benefitting areas on a per hectare basis so that the City, as opposed to the developers, front and recoup the costs.

The offsite levy rate can include infrastructure projects that benefit the area, including network expansion investments for water, wastewater, stormwater, and transportation, and/or new or expanded community recreation facilities, fire hall facilities, police station facilities, and libraries facilities.

Authority for Offsite Levies

The Municipal Government Act sets out a municipality’s authority to impose offsite levies, specifies the types of infrastructure that may be funded through this mechanism, includes details about the requirements for an offsite levy bylaw, and sets out the right of appeal of an offsite levy bylaw through the Land and Property Rights Tribunal.

The Offsite Levy Regulation outlines specific criteria and principles that municipalities must follow when determining the costs associated with levies, ensuring that the charges are proportional to the benefit derived by the new developments.

In determining the basis on which an offsite levy is calculated, the municipality must, at a minimum, consider and include or reference the following in the bylaw imposing the offsite levy:

a description of the specific infrastructure, facilities, and transportation infrastructure;
a description of each of the benefitting areas and how those areas were determined;
supporting studies, technical data and analysis; and
estimated costs and mechanisms to address variations in cost over time.

The City’s Off-Site Levy Bylaw Process

The City has developed a set of assumptions that are being used to assign costs to the benefitting levy basins. These assumptions form the foundation of the financial model used to calculate offsite levies. In mid-May, the City provided an information package to the offsite levy stakeholders and invited their feedback on the assumptions.

The City is seeking feedback on these assumptions until June 6, 2025, before proceeding with the calculations for the updated offsite levies that will be applied to developing lands in Fort Saskatchewan. The City will continue to communicate with its stakeholders and provide the offsite calculations and costs once they are available.

Following the engagement and communication with stakeholders, the City will develop a proposed off-site levy bylaw which will in turn be presented to City Council for consideration for approval.

A public notice about the off-site levy bylaw will be published in the Fort Record in accordance with the advertising requirements set out in the Municipal Government Act prior to presenting the bylaw to Council.

City of Fort Saskatchewan Offsite Levy Model Assumptions

The offsite levy assumptions and calculations are informed by:

Municipal Development Plan
2024 Municipal Census Report
Servicing Design Brief - Annexed Land
Transportation Master Plan
Engineering and Servicing Standards
Fire Services Master Plan
Direct Water Supply – Functional Planning Study (abridged)
Indoor Recreation Facility Planning Report
Indoor Recreation Facility Program and Business Case
Cadastral maps to determine developed and undeveloped land

The following assumptions are believed to distribute infrastructure investment costs based on benefit.

Water

100% of the Trunk and Distribution Mains that are 400 mm diameter or larger (per the Servicing Design Brief) will be charged to the levy.
73% of anew reservoir will be charged to the levy within the Future Urban Area, based on the storage requirements necessary for this area as detailed within the Servicing Design Brief.
A new water supply main is needed to address the capacity constraints that are anticipated as the City grows (as detailed within the Direct Water Supply – Functional Planning Study). The new main will provide sufficient capacity for the City at full build out (estimated 50,000 population, as per the Municipal Development Plan). Since the existing main sufficiently meets the needs of the City’s existing population (29,857 as per the 2024 municipal census, or 60% of the City’s estimated population at full build out), 40% of a new water supply main will be charged to the levy.

Wastewater

100% of Trunk Mains that are 525 mm diameter or larger (per the Servicing Design Brief) will be charged to the levy.
100% of Downstream Offsite Upgrades, such as the trunk twinning near Turner Park (per the Servicing Design Brief) will be charged to the levies within the Southfort, Westpark, Future Urban Areas, and the Medium Industrial Area. The allocation to each area will be on a proportional basis and include new contributions from existing developed lands (Heavy Industrial).

Storm

100% of Trunk Mains that are 1200mm diameter or larger that service more than one basin (as per the Servicing Design Brief) will be charged to the levy for upstream benefitting areas.
100% of the Outfalls and south boundary ditch (as per the Servicing Design Brief) will be charged to the levies for upstream benefitting areas.

Transportation

100% of all-directional highway intersections when the infrastructure is within the bounds of the Highway 15/21 rights-of-way (as per the Transportation Master Plan and Servicing Design Brief) will be charged to the levy applicable to the Future Urban Areas.
Arterial roadways (as per the Transportation Master Plan and Servicing Design Brief) will be assigned to the levy for the quarter sections adjacent to the arterial roadway. The costs assigned will be:
- For two-lane arterial roads, incremental costs above what is required for a 13.5 metre collector residential roadway (as per the Engineering and Servicing Standards), including the purchase of the road right-of-way widening, 100% will be charged to the levy for the adjacent quarter sections.
- For four-lane arterial roads, the adjacent developers are required to construct the first two lanes plus sidewalk, trail, and landscaping. The additional two lanes and any incremental costs above what is required for a 13.5 metre collector residential roadway (as per the as per the Engineering and Servicing Standards), including the purchase of the road right-of-way widening, 100% will be charged to the levy for the adjacent quarter sections.
- 100% of incremental intersections costs for arterial signals and round-a-bouts will be charged to the levy for the adjacent quarter sections.
A pedestrian corridor within the Future Urban Area is needed to maintain traffic flow and to connect the active transportation network to existing infrastructure (as per the Servicing Design Brief). 60% of the Highway 21 pedestrian corridors within the Future Urban Area will be charged to the levy. The allocation recognizes that the corridor will be primarily but not exclusively used by residents within the Future Urban Area. The portion of the pedestrian corridor assigned to the levy will be 75% funded by the sections adjacent to the Highway 21 and 25% funded by the remaining land within the Future Urban Area.

Community Recreation Facilities

A new aquatic facility is required to meet the community’s needs (as per the Indoor Recreation Facility Program and Business Case). To date, the existing aquatic facility has met the community’s needs, but growth has put pressure on the facility to provide adequate space for aquatic programming. As the population increases, the existing facility will be unable to keep up with demands. Cadastral maps show approximately 75% of the city’s residential/commercial areas are developed. Therefore, 25% of the new aquatic facility will be charged to the levy for Southfort, Westpark, and the Future Urban Areas.
A new arena is required to meet the community’s needs (as per the Indoor Recreation Facility Program and Business Case). To date, the existing arena facilities have met the community’s needs, but growth has put pressure on the facilities to provide adequate space for public and private skate times. As the population increases, the existing facilities will be unable to keep up with demands. Therefore, 75% of the new arena at the Dow Centennial Centre will be charged to the levy for Southfort, Westpark, and the Future Urban Areas.

Firehall

A new firehall is required to provide a 10-minute response time (as per the Fire Services Master Plan), and to provide additional space to expand fire services to keep up with growth. The Theoretical 10-Minute Response Coverage map within the Fire Services Master Plan shows that the new firehall’s 10-minute response coverage will include both new and existing developments. Approximately 30% of the area that the new firehall will service is developed (as per cadastral maps). Therefore, 70% of the base cost for the new firehall will be charged to the levy for Southfort, Westpark, and the Future Urban Areas.
Expanded fire services, including a training tower and an assigned location for the Emergency Coordination Centre (ECC), is required to prepare staff for emergency situations. To date, sending staff offsite for training and using temporary locations for the ECC has sufficed. As the City grows, previous solutions are no longer efficient. Cadastral maps show approximately 75% of the City’s total area is developed. Therefore, 25% of the expanded fire services will be charged to the levy for Southfort, Westpark, Future Urban Areas, and the Medium Industrial area.