[URBAN NOTE] "City forced to refund portion of Scarborough subway development charges"

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star's Jennifer Pagliaro notes the latest complication in the Scarborough subway story.

After a powerful developer’s group challenged key numbers in the city’s transit planning process for the Scarborough subway, a settlement approved Wednesday means the city will now collect millions of dollars less to pay for the project.

The deal comes eight months after the Building Industry and Land Development Association, BILD, launched an appeal at the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), over the amount of money being charged to developers so the city can pay to connect the Bloor-Danforth subway line to the Scarborough Town Centre, replacing the aging Scarborough RT.

That appeal has also left questions about the reliability and precision of ridership numbers and their role in influencing political decisions worth billions of dollars.

The agreement, approved by the OMB, means the city must now refund a portion of the charges to all developers who were issued building permits on or after Aug. 1, 2015 to reflect a 10 per cent reduction in the rate. Any future charges will be calculated at the new rate.

A city spokesperson said they have yet to tally the total amount to be refunded. But a report from staff to council, the contents of which were earlier shared with the Star, estimated the refund at $2 million with interest and total revenue loss estimated between $4 and 6 million, when taking future charges into consideration.