While rewriting of the Municipal Government Act was started by the last government, the current provincial NDP government has taken the baton and is looking to “modernize” the legislation.
The MGA sets out the powers of municipalities and how they are able to operate, but has not seen a major revision in decades.
The Progressive Conservatives started the process before last year’s provincial election and after taking power under NDP Premier Rachel Notley, the new minister of municipal affairs has continued the process.
Last week the minister, Danielle Larivee, presented the revised legislation in the Legislature before it ended its spring session.
Larivee said modernizing the Municipal Government act is critical to ensuring future prosperity for the province and vitality of its communities. The minister will be in Canmore on Friday (June 10) holding an information and feedback session on the changes.
“This act is a culmination of nearly four years of comprehensive review and consultation with representatives form municipalities, businesses, community organizations, oil and gas sector, builders and developers, the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association, the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties and of course Albertans,” said the minister.
She said the MGA as the second largest piece of legislation in Alberta touches the lives of every resident and guides how communities pave roads, build schools and grow.
Larivee detailed several major changes to the legislation, including the provision of inclusionary zoning as an option for municipalities. Inclusionary zoning allows municipalities to levy land or money at subdivision from developers for the purpose of providing affordable housing. It is a policy change asked for repeatedly by officials from the Town of Canmore for some time.
Minister Larivee said inclusionary zoning is an important tool used across North America to increase affordable housing and promote inclusive complete communities.
“Alberta continues to grow,” she said. “More than four million people call this province home and the population is expected to grow by a million in the next decade. As populations increase so does the need for affordable housing.”
Another major change to the MGA is to what kind of off site levies a municipality can collect from developers. Currently it enables collection of funds from new development to pay for infrastructure related to growth, but only for water, wastewater and roads. The change proposed would allow collection of levies related to fire halls, police stations, libraries and community recreation facilities as well
The modernized MGA includes changes relating to how cities and regions grow – with growth management boards required in Edmonton and Calgary. The Calgary Regional Partnership, which currently exists, would comprise the latter although it is still unclear whether or not Bow Valley communities will be required to be members. Canmore and the MD of Bighorn have stepped away from the CRP in recent years.
Towns in Alberta will also be required to have inter-municipal collaboration frameworks to address issues like growth and services regionally.
“A key focus of the modernized MGA is on working together, growing together and making Albertans lives better together,” Larivee said. “The previous structure of the MGA led municipalities to compete with one another instead of working together.”
She said the inter-municipal collaboration frameworks will ensure neighbouring communities partner on land use planning, coordinate services and fund them equitably.
But it is not something Banff Mayor Karen Sorensen thinks will apply to that municipality as other Alberta communities, but the surrounded by the national park instead.
“So many of the amendments have to do with growth, and that really doesn’t pertain to us,” Sorensen said referring to the fact that Banff has reached its growth boundary already.
One of the major criticisms to come up regarding the changes to the MGA is about how municipalities fund themselves. Sorensen said she is disappointed the new legislation does not address funding for municipalities, which she said need to change as right now the only source of funds for municipal governments are property taxes.
“On behalf of Banff, we supported the Alberta Urban Municpalities Association position, which was that the province needs to look at funding municipalities differently,” she said. “Based on the fact that they are silen on any different at all in the funding formula, it seems they don’t recognize the challenges we have iwht the current funding mechanism.”
The MGA changes include a cap to the ratio between residential and non-residential property taxes at one to five. Larivee said there are 18 municipalities in Alberta that are above that limit currently, and they will not be forced to lower their taxes to meet the new rule.
She said the provincial ombudsman will also be empowered to hear complaints from Albertans about how their municipal councils operate, newly elected councillors will require training are also changes to the MGA.
