Your Questions or Comments on County Fees
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Before passing Rocky View County’s Master Rates Bylaw, Council wants to give you the opportunity to ask questions or provide input on any of the fees that impact you. Here are the details...
The services provided by Rocky View County are paid for in two main ways:
- Taxes: Services such as road maintenance, fire, and enforcement are paid for by County landowners through their property taxes. Tax-funded initiatives generally have a benefit to the broader community. Grants from other levels of government are included in this category, since they are also funded by taxes.
- Fees: The County charges fees for services that generally benefit only some residents or businesses, and not the broader community. For example, only Langdon residents have curbside waste, recycling, and organics pickup, so they pay the cost of that service through user fees.
Depending on where and how you live, it is possible that you don’t pay any County fees. However, if you own a dog, or benefit from County-supplied water or wastewater services, or plan on developing your land you will pay fees.
The fees the County charges are shown in the Master Rates Bylaw. The vast majority of fees for 2018 have not changed—in fact they haven’t changed since 2015 or earlier. But some fees have gone up or down, and the ones that impact the most Rocky Viewers are:
- Langdon Waste Pickup Fees: If the proposed 2018 Master Rates Bylaw passes, monthly Black Bin fees will drop to $9.68 (small bin) or $14.63 (large bin), from $11.18 and $16.31 respectively. The introduction of Green Bins for organics has reduced the amount of garbage going to landfills, lowering the Black Bin fees.
- County-provided water and wastewater fees are scheduled to increase for 2018 as part of the move towards recovering the costs of providing the service.
- East Rocky View Sewer Rates: Fees increase from $1.792 to $1.939 per cubic meter (the $30 monthly flat fee is unchanged).
- Elbow Valley/Pinebrook Sewer Rates: The monthly flat fee increases from $76.32 to $83.26.
- Bragg Creek Sewer Rates: Fees increase from $4.706 to $5.177 per cubic meter (the $25 monthly flat fee is unchanged).
- Bragg Creek Water Rates: Fees increase from $1.876 to $2.064 per cubic meter (the $25 monthly flat fee is unchanged).
- Under the proposed Bylaw, cemetery fees have changed to reflect the actual costs of providing service, and to continue the move towards full cost recovery. There are a number of different services, fees, and options in this area, and details can be found by viewing the Master Rates Bylaw or by contacting Cemetery Services though the contact information below.
Other fees that have changed primarily involve planning, development, or building permit items, and reflect the true costs of providing those services. This is part of the County’s approach that developers, and not taxpayers, should pay for development. Details of the new fees can be seen in the Bylaw.
If you have any questions on County fees or the Master Rates Bylaw you can call us at 403-230-1401 or e-mail us at questions@rockyview.ca.
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