qathet Regional District (qRD) is considering revising its fees and charges bylaw that was created in 2008.
At the October 20 finance committee meeting, directors reviewed a request to endorse the proposed new fees and charges by giving first two readings at the October board meeting (October 28) and third reading and adoption at the November board meeting.
Electoral Area E director Andrew Fall said he understood the need for fees because of the cost of handling activities such as photocopying and other functions. Fall said in terms of accessibility for the public, it would be nice if bylaws were available in digital form on the qRD website.
“The bylaws govern the public,” said Fall. “There is a benefit for people having easy access and not having any barriers to getting bylaws. People, if they are able to read them, are more likely to know what applies.”
Fall said one of the big changes to the proposed bylaw is freedom of information requests. Fall asked for a description of the rationale.
“Is this simply just trying to capture in more detail all of the costs that are not adequately represented in the current service fees?” asked Fall.
Corporate officer Michelle Jones said the schedule contained within the bylaw is directly from the regulations that are out for the freedom of information and protection of privacy regulation.
“In the past, there have been times where we haven’t been able to charge for the costs outlined in the act because it wasn’t in our fees and charges bylaw,” said Jones. “This will be very clear for the public what it will cost to request those items.”
Electoral Area D director Sandy McCormick mentioned the charges for prints from plotters, which are large format printers. She said she failed to see any difference between the current rates and the proposed rates.
“Is there actually a change or is it just that we are calling it now a print instead of a photocopy?” asked McCormick.
Manager of financial services Linda Greenan said there was a change in the cost for colour prints. She said the cost for each of the print sizes that were listed will be uniform.
“Any sized print that a person asks for will always be based on the square foot charge of black and white or colour,” said Greenan. “Before, it was always based on the size of paper that we put in the printer. This makes it more uniform across the board so that whether they ask for a 17- by 22-inch, or any other size, it’s always based on the square footage.”
According to the staff report, the current fees and charges bylaw from 2008 has been amended 12 times and contains five distinct fee schedules. Staff recommend that the bylaw be rescinded and a replacement bylaw with one fee schedule be adopted. Because the bylaw has been amended many times, it means staff need to search through many bylaw amendments to find the most recent of the five schedules.
The report states a few of the fees need to be updated to reflect current operations.
A fee needs to be added to reflect that qRD collects a fee for processing applications to the provincial Agricultural Land Commission.
There is also a requirement to include a fee schedule for the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) as per regulation.
The staff report states a bylaw with a single schedule would mean whenever a fee is amended, added or removed, the entire schedule of fees would be replaced. A single schedule would make it easier for residents to see the fee that applies to the service they are seeking, and it would mean staff no longer need to search each bylaw amendment to find the current fee for the service, according to the report.
The finance committee voted to send the matter to the regional board for approval.
