Spotlight Staff
After consulting with thousands of Albertans, the province is amending the Modernized Municipal Government Act and continuing the conversation with an in-depth discussion guide.
“For the feedback that addressed new, but important, areas for change, I am pleased to share the discussion guide on what changes we hope to make in the spring based on that feedback,” says Municipal Affairs Minister Danielle Larivee, MLA for Lesser Slave Lake.
“Amendments that were tabled (Nov. 22) would make the Modernized Municipal Government Act stronger and more effective, thanks to what we heard.”
Albertans can have their say through an online questionnaire or written submissions until Jan. 31, 2017.
The government will review the feedback and bring forward any amendments during the spring session.
All changes to the act, including regulations, would come into force before municipal elections in fall 2017.
The discussion guide proposes a policy that would allow environmental stewardship to be included as a municipal purpose.
The Modernized Municipal Government Act would, as an example, expand the types of projects that could be funded through offsite levies.
Fire halls, police stations, community recreation facilities and libraries are added to the list, when the new development receives 30 per cent or more of the benefit of the new facility.
During the consultation tour over the summer, government clearly heard that municipalities felt a 30 per cent threshold would disadvantage smaller communities, since they couldn’t use the policy tool to create complete communities.
For that reason, the government is introducing an amendment to remove the 30 per cent minimum threshold.
“Municipal governments will now have the flexibility they need to work with local developers to assess levies that are appropriate for their communities,” Larivee says.
To connect to the in-depth discussion guide, visit gov.ab.ca and link to ministries and municipal affairs.