New legislation proposed by Alberta’s government would make a host of changes to the rules that govern municipalities, sparking some concerns about local autonomy.

Bill 28 was introduced in the legislature on Thursday. If passed, it would put power in the hands of the minister of municipal affairs to write regulations and bring in new restrictions and increased oversight on Alberta municipalities.

Those include creating a universal councillor code of conduct, banning higher taxes on vacant properties, creating new permitting systems with automatic approvals, and new restrictions on how municipalities can collect or spend development fees.

Alberta Municipalities president Dylan Bressey says while his organization is in support of some of the changes, others seem problematic.

“Anytime there’s a local councillor told what to do, that’s something we want to tread very carefully in because it’s the local decision-makers that know best what their community needs,” he said on Thursday.

Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams said it’s a provincial responsibility to set the ground rules for how municipalities operate.

“This isn’t about a power struggle between the province and municipalities,” he said. 

“This is about all of our interests, about seeing institutions that work fairly and above board.”

The bill proposes making a couple of changes to how charter and independent schools can operate in building a new school. It would grant access for charter schools to build on municipal reserve lands.

Proposed changes would bar municipalities from collecting off-site levies from charter or independent school projects as is the current practice with public schools.

Offsite-levies are fees charged to developers, typically to help pay for site-servicing costs related to infrastructure like roads and pipes for a new neighbourhood or project. 

The bill also proposes further restricting what municipalities can spend levies on, limiting them to capital costs for critical infrastructure only. The levies could not be used to pay for buses, fire trucks or any extra building costs, like building to a higher energy efficiency standard. 

Scott Fash, CEO of the Building Industry and Land Development Association Alberta, said he believes the restrictions would prevent municipalities from imposing unreasonable developer costs.

“Limiting the ability to fund gold-plated facilities through development charges while strengthening transparency and accountability will help ensure the infrastructure costs borne by new homebuyers are reasonable and cost effective,” he said.

Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack said municipalities losing tools for revenue often results in additional property taxes. 

“I don’t like when we’re potentially losing tools without having a holistic conversation about what the right ratio is, how that impacts housing prices, property taxes,” he said.

A previously announced universal code of conduct policy would set up a third-party roster of investigators to hear complaints against councillors. But Bill 28 would also give the minister of municipal affairs the power to reject or adjust the recommendations made by commissioners who hear and adjudicate appeals.

Restrictions on setting tax rates based on occupancy primarily take aim at Canmore, where a housing shortage prompted a polarizing proposal to tax secondary homeowners at a higher rate. 

Bill 28 would also bring in transparency requirements for Alberta’s municipalities. That includes publicly posting permit timelines and a municipal “sunshine list” where staff salaries over a certain threshold would have to be disclosed online. 

Another way the proposed legislation steps into the municipal sphere is by bringing in restrictions on what can be accessed by children in public libraries. 

At a time when many councils are facing increased costs, Bressey noted libraries are predominantly municipally funded.

“If there are things coming out of this regulation that will require renovations and libraries to implement, I sure hope that there’s going to be provincial funding attached to that,” he said.

NDP municipal affairs critic Rob Miyashiro said the bill is an overreach of authority.

“I believe sincerely that this minister should actually rename his department ‘the mayor of Alberta,’” he said.

“It’s just another case of this government thinking they know better than the people that are actually doing the work.”