COLD LAKE - The City of Cold Lake has made a financial decision in order to support local housing development.
At the Oct. 8 regular council meeting, council approved an amendment to the 2024 operating budget, allocating $521,911 from the City's unrestricted surplus to fully fund the Multi-Unit Rental Housing Incentive Program.
The program, initially established by council in March, is designed to incentivize the development of purpose-built rental units by offering grants up to $1 million.
The City of Cold Lake’s Housing Needs Assessment highlighted a critical need for more rental housing, and the program is expected to alleviate some of the demand by offering rebates to developers upon the completion of new rental units.
With 100 units being the maximum threshold for the program, it is expected to run for one year - or until the funding cap is reached.
“We're recommending an amendment to the 2024 Operating Budget, and this is to complete the funding for the multi-unit rebate program,” said Kristy Isert, General Manager of Corporate Services, during the council meeting.
She provided details on how deposits collected earlier this year had been reallocated to the program.
“There's a chart that shows the funding that's already been restricted for the multi-family project. There were several times that we brought forward to council some construction deposits and development deposits, which had been reviewed and were determined to be unreturnable to the person who had provided the deposit to the city."
These deposits, known as Development Completion Deposits and Development Agreement Securities, are typically made by developers to ensure compliance with various development conditions, such as completing infrastructure or site improvements, according to information from the City of Cold Lake.
Following a review in spring 2024, council directed that these deposits be recognized as revenue and restricted specifically for use in the Multi-Family Rebate Program, which is part of the broader Multi-Unit Rental Housing Incentive Program.
This process allows the City to utilize a total of $478,088 from these deposits to incentivize the development of new multi-unit rental housing, ultimately helping to address the housing needs identified in the community.”
Isert further explained the specifics of the reallocated funds.
"On March 26, 2024, there was $157,500 in deposits, which were restricted for this program. On May 28, there was $166,000 in deposits, and then on Sept. 10, there was $154,588."
The cumulative total from these deposits amounted to $478,088. However, the program’s target funding was set at $1 million, according to information from the City of Cold Lake.
To address the shortfall, Isert noted, "We are recommending that the remaining balance of $521,911 is funded from unrestricted surplus. That pumps up the total funding for the program to $1 million for the multi-unit rental housing."
Council made a motion to approve the amendment to the 2024 Operating Budget.
