A business owner has asked the City of Orillia for a reduction in stormwater fees, but it seems he’s out of luck.
In a letter to city council, Phil Macdonald, CEO of Leon’s stores in Orillia, Collingwood and Owen Sound, noted stormwater fees for his Orillia location have increased from $408.92 to $3,776 per year.
“We are sure you have done extensive research on this issue and the increase can be justified by your department,” he wrote, but added the increased rates especially sting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Macdonald noted the store closed during the province’s three lockdowns for a total of 24 weeks and sales are down 75 per cent.
“Fixed expenses such as mortgage, rent, wages, and utilities do not go away,” he wrote. “It is incredibly unfortunate during the midst of this disaster that you have decided to increase fees. Most businesses are barely hanging on.”
Calling the increase “unacceptable,” Macdonald requested a 50 per cent reduction — from $3,776 to $1,888 per year — for two years.
That isn’t going to happen, Mayor Steve Clarke said, adding it is not permitted under the Municipal Act.
“It’s never a good time to have your rates increase, and I sympathize with his point and with many other businesses during the pandemic,” he said.
However, he added, the rate increase was implemented to ensure people were paying their fair share of stormwater costs.
Prior to the increase, the same flat fee was being charged for non-residential and multi-residential properties.
Large stores, like Leon’s, were paying “disproportionately less than they should have” while residential property owners were paying more than they should have, Clarke said.
“The new fee structure is intended to charge stormwater fees more equitably across the city so that properties with a larger impact on stormwater now pay proportionate stormwater fees, and properties with lower impact on stormwater pay a more appropriate stormwater fee,” he wrote in his response to Macdonald.
The mayor also pointed out Leon’s, located at 555 Memorial Ave., has a building area of 3,838 square metres and a “corresponding equivalent impervious area calculation” — which can include rooftops and paved areas — of 7,677 square metres. That places the store in the largest tier for stormwater.
“This property therefore has one of the largest impacts to our stormwater system in the city,” he wrote.
The city is a few years into its 20-year, $60-million stormwater management plan, and Clarke said stormwater management is “becoming a really significant issue with municipalities” as extreme weather events become more frequent.
All of the fees collected, he said, go directly toward the city’s stormwater management efforts.
Stormwater fees can be appealed at a cost of $50. Whether Macdonald plans to appeal is not known. He has not responded to requests for comment.
