Mayor mulling growth fee to help pay for new developments

WINNIPEG — Mayor Brian Bowman says the city is consulting with industry stakeholders on a possible growth tax that would help cover infrastructure costs in new developments.

But the fee is not something that will be presented in the budget next week.

“The challenge that we are seeing is that as growth occurs in different areas of the city…the increased number of residences increases the wear and tear on the connectivity between communities and overall city services,” Bowman said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The challenge that we are seeing is that as growth occurs in different areas of the city…the increased number of residences increases the wear and tear on the connectivity between communities and overall city services," Bowman said.

He doesn’t believe the current funding model helps pay for that.

“It’s a choice between higher property taxes for everybody, or higher prices for some.”

Bowman made the comments following the annual “State of the City” speech to the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce.

The city has been looking at a growth fee since the fall 2013.  But the province has to consent to change the City of Winnipeg charter to allow the city to apply the fee.