Development fees are going up next year – Common Council has approved first and second readings to bylaw changes clearing the way for the increases. The fees cover a number of areas including permits for new home construction – commercial building permits – and multi-residential permits. The average increase for those permits is five percent.
Meantime – council is moving ahead with approval of Saint John Water’s 2021 budget which will see no rate increases for flat rate and metered customers for the third year in a row. Industrial rates for untreated water are going up slightly. The water utility’s revenues have taken a hit thanks to COVID-19. And Saint John Water Commissioner Brent McGovern says the utility will suffer a $225,000 hit next year on the industrial side with the closure of the Saputo Baxter Diaries plant.
