Off-Site Levies
The City of Medicine Hat charges developers a levy that helps pay for the cost of the off-site infrastructure. This helps to ensure that growth pays for growth. Off-site levies are just one of the tools the City uses to help attain financial sustainability.
Off-Site Levy Bylaw Frequently Asked Questions
| Area Number | Benefitting Area | Levy rate per hectare) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Reserve Lands | $48,813 |
| 2 | North West Industrial Park | $101,635 |
| 3 | Box Springs Business Park | $149,968 |
| 4 | Brier Park | $149,968 |
| 5 | Brier Run | $33,331 |
| 6 | Ranchlands | $49,667 |
| 7 | Burnside | $102,711 |
| 8 | Established Area | $0 |
| 9 | Airport Lands | $63,411 |
| 10 | Westvue | $59,637 |
| 11 | South West Residential | $137,736 |
| 12 | South East Residential | $168,307 |
Planning a development project? Find out if off-site levies are owing on your parcel of land.
Our OSL Estimator Tool will provide an immediate estimate of the amount owing for OSL's for any particular parcel size in any given area of Medicine Hat. For further questions or confirmation, contact Planning & Development Services.
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Who pays for off-site infrastructure? |
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Both the City and developers contribute. The City of Medicine Hat calculates how much growth is projected in an area and how much impact that growth will have on infrastructure. The City then shares the costs of growth. The City and developers both contribute to the cost of off-site infrastructure. Off-site levies must be paid at the time of Development Permit approval for Development Permit applications, and at the time of subdivision endorsement for subdivision applications. Buyers of new homes do end up paying for some of the cost of the infrastructure. When the developers pay levies to cover the cost of growth infrastructure, the charges are included in the cost of a new house. This infrastructure is critical to ensuring residents continue to live in complete communities with the services they need.
For further information about off-site leviesView Off-site Levies: A Municipality's Manual for Capital Cost Recovery Due to New Development, prepared by Brownlee LLP in 2019. |
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How are rates determined? |
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To calculate off-site levy rates, the City uses the Corvus model, which projects the infrastructure required to support and maintain cost-effective and orderly growth. The City has allocated those costs to the lands in nodes that will benefit from the new or expanded infrastructure so that developers and people subdividing land will pay an amount proportionate to the area being developed or subdivided. The Off-site Levy Bylaw #4157 was approved by City Council in 2013, and Bylaw #4721 was approved by City Council in 2022 as an amendment to #4157. The City reviews the rates each year. Provincial legislation dictates that levy collection is subject to annual reporting requirements. |
The Municipal Assist program and its associated off-site levy rates were discontinued on December 21, 2022. For more information, visit Off-Site Levy FAQ.