The provincial government is giving cities, towns and counties two years to figure out how to plan and share costs for regional services, defined as anything from roads to swimming pools to policing.

It means industry taxes from Strathcona County could be used to upgrade the Beverly Bridge in Edmonton, but the details of such an agreement will be determined by local political leaders.

Municipal Affairs Minister Danielle Larivee introduced this and a sweeping set of amendments to the house Tuesday that could fundamentally change the way cities and regions work together across Alberta. The changes will be debated at 20 open houses across the province this summer and finalized early next year.

The cost-sharing requirements apply to the large city regions of Calgary and Edmonton, and to smaller municipalities, which must create collaboration frameworks with every entity on their boarders. Edmonton will see an expanded mandate for the already mandatory Capital Region Board, and Calgary will see its voluntary partnership made mandatory.

The new rules will “require communities to come together,” said Larivee, and will go to independent arbitration if no agreement is reached. “We need to recognize our communities are interconnected.”

Amendments to the Municipal Government Act introduced Tuesday also addressed how to pay for new suburban neighbourhoods. Edmonton officials previously estimated the city’s three new growth areas will cost the rest of Edmonton $1.4 billion over the next 50 years because the city is not able to charge developers all of the costs associated with the new homes.

“Growth is not paying for growth,” Larivee said.

With these changes, cities will be able to narrow the gap. They will now be able to charge developers for libraries, police stations, fire halls and community recreations centres if at least 30 per cent of the benefit from those new facilities goes directly to the new areas. The province is still writing regulations to ensure the cost to new homeowners is proportionate to the benefit.

“We’re just making sure the people who are benefiting are the people who are paying,” she said. But major road upgrades such as the Terwillegar interchanges are not included here because “it’s too difficult to clearly determine the benefiting area.”

Cities will also be able to take land, units or cash in lieu of units for affordable housing.

Morinville Mayor Lisa Homes, head of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association, called the amendments a “great start.” The province still needs to legislate base infrastructure funding tied to inflation, she said. It needs to give municipalities alternate tax powers, such as the ability to charge a hotel tax in resort towns.

She’s disappointed the changes don’t address how schools sites are assembled and used, either. The current wording still wouldn’t allow anyone to build seniors homes or a recreation centre connected to a school on reserve land, and doesn’t require the province to consult with cities on which school projects move forward first.

Larivee said school-related changes may be added this fall after further negotiations with the school boards.

Al Kemmere, president of the Alberta Association of Districts and Counties, said the biggest challenge now is going to be “expectation management.”

Towns and cities need to realize their country neighbours rely on pipeline and telecommunication taxes to run their services and can’t easily subsidize their neighbours. But many counties and municipalities have already created voluntary cost-sharing agreements. Everyone will be watching for the detailed regulations, he said. “We’re hoping it never has to get to arbitration.”

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