User fees amendment approved for 2024 to 2026

New user fees and incremental increases to other rates and fees in 2024 to 2026 will help the City of St. Catharines cover the costs for certain programs and services that directly benefit users. The fees are critical for the City, which has a mixed approach to funding its services – relying on rates and fees and the tax levy, and other sources such as grants and reserves. 

There are 13 new fees, 10 have been updated and two have been removed. Some increases will be phased in over three years to support the transition. The update to the 2024 to 2026 schedule of rates and fees was approved by City Council on Monday, July 22. User fees include charges for things such as swimming lessons, dog licences, park and facility rentals, plus building and demolition permits.

During a recent review, the City prioritized best practices, including a balanced approach to ensure fees are in line among comparable municipalities and accounted for ratepayer affordability. Factors that are considered when setting individual rates include legislation, market conditions, cost recovery and municipal comparators. 

New and updated fees include: 

• Fire Services fee for attending collisions on municipal roads similar to the existing fee applied to collisions on provincial highways. The fee will apply to non-residents. It will support the recovery of costs including clean-up of spills and time of service. Over the last three years, roughly 10 per cent of collisions responded to each year on municipal roads involve non-residents.
• Some fees to support cost recovery on the principle that “growth should pay for growth”, including a Master Plan Review Fee - for large multi-phased redevelopments; a building permit pre-consultation fee; and a concurrent building permit review fee.
• The Garden City Golf Course is introducing a number of options allowing participants to play nine holes as opposed to a full 18.
• Three-year phased-in increases to business licence fees that were identified as not being in sync with the average of municipal comparators. 

The business licence compliance letter fee and paper / magazine vending box fee have both been eliminated for 2024.

A full list of the City’s 2024 schedule of rates and fees is available at www.stcatharines.ca/2024RatesandFees.