Proposed Fees for Heritage Preservation Services

The Economic Development Committee recommends the adoption of the following report (September 29, 1998) from the Commissioner of Economic Development, Culture and Tourism:

Purpose:

To recommend appropriate fees and processing procedures for heritage preservation services provided by Heritage Toronto and the Department of Economic Development, Culture and Tourism.

Financial Implications:

This report is consistent with the approved 1998 operating budget for Arts, Culture and Heritage.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

(1)the fees for heritage preservation services outlined in this report be approved for implementation beginning November 1, 1998;

(2)a by-law be introduced to permit fees for heritage preservation services; and

(3)the appropriate City Officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action to give effect thereto.

Background:

The Municipal Act allows a municipality or local board to pass by-laws, imposing fees for its services.

Prior to amalgamation, the City of Scarborough was the only area municipality to charge for inquiries respecting heritage properties. Precedents do exist, however, in other City Departments. The Building Division of Urban Planning & Development Services, as an example, charges a $60.00 per hour base rate for permit processing and inspections and a flat rate of $100.00 for a routine compliance search of records.

There are two types of preservation-related inquiries regarding the status of a property. The first and most common type is a request seeking formal confirmation whether a property is listed, designated, or is being considered for designation under the Ontario Heritage Act.

The second type of inquiry concerns compliance with legally contracted requirements. For a property subject to a Heritage Easement Agreement (HEA) under the Ontario Heritage Act and/or a Section 37 agreement under the Planning Act, a prospective purchaser will wish to know whether all conditions of the HEA or the Section 37 agreement have been met. The response may or may not require input from other City departments.

Discussion:

Charging fees for heritage preservation services is intended to recover a portion of the administrative costs associated with processing inquiries. Fees, however, should not be set at a level which compromises preservation objectives. It should be noted that the fees proposed below do not include staff costs attributable to other City departments.

Proposed Fees:

Written responses to inquiries regarding the Inventory of Heritage Properties: $60.00 per property or $60.00 flat fee (applicable taxes included) for multiple adjacent properties covered by a single transaction.

Written responses to inquiries regarding Heritage Easement Agreements and/or Section 37 Agreements: $60.00 per agreement (applicable taxes included).Fees will not be charged for inquiries requiring only a verbal response from preservation staff.

Processing:

The Ontario Heritage Act states that the municipal clerk shall keep a register of designated properties and issue extracts from it upon payment of a fee. In practice, some inquiries are directed to the clerk; others come directly to preservation staff. To ensure that outgoing information is accurate, the City Clerk should direct all inquiries regarding heritage properties to preservation staff. Only City staff authorized by the Commissioner of Economic Development, Culture and Tourism and staff of Heritage Toronto may sign letters responding to inquiries. Fees should be collected only by the preservation unit and used to achieve the "revenue enhancement" line item in the Arts, Culture and Heritage budget.

Requests for information on properties in the former City of Toronto should be directed to the Toronto Historical Board (Heritage Toronto). The Toronto Historical Board has agreed to implement the same fee policy that is approved for the Economic Development, Culture and Tourism Department.

Conclusions:

The fees proposed in this report will recover a portion of costs incurred for processing inquiries related to heritage properties. While the Ontario Heritage Act identifies the City Clerk as the intake point for inquiries, responses are typically prepared by preservation staff to ensure accuracy. Consequently, all responses should originate from the preservation unit and all fees collected should be applied to the Arts, Culture and Heritage budget.

This report has been prepared in consultation with the Clerk's and Legal Departments and the Toronto Historical Board.

Contact Name:

Beth Hanna, Manager

Culture Division, North York

North York Civic Centre

Office (416) 395-7415

Fax (416) 395-7886