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Calgarians could see a significant reduction in the amount their water bills are increased in coming years after council passed a five-year off-site levy bylaw on Monday that ends what Mayor Naheed Nenshi calls the “sprawl subsidy.”

The passed bylaw will bill developers the full cost of water and wastewater infrastructure in new and established neighbourhoods across the city, a cost that could be passed onto homebuyers.

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The controversial changes have been eyed since 2010, when Calgarians were warned by then mayor Dave Bronconnier they would face double-digit increases to their water bill, each year, over the next decade.

“It is a long time in coming,” Nenshi said Monday. “Certainly this is something that I have been working on even before I was mayor to ensure that we have a level playing field and that markets can work and that we’re not artificially subsidizing one area of the city versus the other.”