Residents of a section of Wentworth Drive in Riverview have been told they must help pay for new sewer lines, curbs, hydrants and other improvements — or ask the town in sufficient numbers to leave the street as it is.

A letter from the town, which many residents received Tuesday, informs property owners they'll have to pay $115 per metre of street frontage.

The town estimates the residents' portion will cover 14 per cent of the cost of the work, which also includes a new roadbed, water main and laterals, and catch basins.

Resident Benjamin Black says his bill for the work would be close to $3,000, on top of the $2,950 in property tax he already pays.

"I am just an average citizen," Black said. "I don't have $3,000 to give to the town. I'm sure nobody else does.

"I've talked to a few neighbours," said Black. "They are not too happy about it either."

Local improvement levy

Black, 29, says he learned after buying his house that the town was able to apply a "local improvement levy" on homeowners to recover some of the cost of the work.

Riverview wants to charge residents of Wentworth Drive a local improvement levy to upgrade the watermain, sewer, street and curbing in the neighbourhood, with the residents charged $115 per metre of road street frontage. (CBC) "I don't really know that much about the bylaws and stuff, but I should have looked into that seven years ago before I moved here because I probably wouldn't have bought a house here if I knew this was going to happen," he said.

He said he has spoken to other residents on streets who were previously subject to such charges for reconstruction and found the residents did not have a choice but to pay.

"Next thing you know, they are getting an invoice in the mail to pay several thousand dollars and if you refuse to pay it, they put a lien against your house," he said.

"If somebody wanted to sell their house and if you got a lien against it, I know I wouldn't want to buy a house with a $3,000 lien against it. I think it's just crazy."

Strong opposition needed to avoid

There is one way out. In the letter, signed by town clerk Annette Crummey, residents are told they can avoid the bill if they reject the improvements to their street in great enough numbers.

She writes, if "a majority of the owners whose combined property values equal at least one half of all the properties to be assessed, petition council against the work by March 7, 2017."

Riverview Mayor Ann Seamans said there is nothing unusual about the Wentworth Drive improvements.

Nothing unusual

"We do this with all local improvements — we charge," she said. "With the Municipalities Act, it allows municipalities to undertake the provisions of sewage, sidewalks, roads and streets and water improvements and cover the cost from the owners of the properties.

"They will be charged for the curb and gutter, not for the whole project, but the curb and gutter in front of their homes. This is the way it's been done for years."

Seamans said people are allowed to petition against the levy at the council meeting on March 7, but that would mean no improvements will be made to the street, she said.

Seamans said people are given payment options to pay the levy right away or over a period of time, or they can put a lien against their house.