YORKTON - A new Show Home Rebate Program in Yorkton approved in October has already undergone a major overhaul.
At the Oct. 2, Council meeting, Council approved unanimously the new policy.
The program launched on Nov. 1, and public promotion has been ongoing since, explained Michael Eger Director of Planning, Building and Development with the city told the regular meeting of Yorkton Council Monday.
Program changes were then discussed in detail at the Nov. 9, Economic Development Committee (EDC) meeting.
Egers noted members commented;
*Furnishing the home should not be a mandatory requirement to qualify for the rebate.
*Rather than allowing all new City-owned residential lots to be eligible for the rebate, a specific set of lots on the same street should be selected.
* More specific parameters should be set, such as a square footage range and architectural design to ensure all homes are relatively comparable to each other.
* The build-by date should be extended from September 1, 2024 to at least October 1, 2024.
* Administration should seek input from three local builders on the comments from the EDC before making alterations to the policy.
That Administration take the Show Home Rebate Program back to Council with amendments that limits lot selection to one street and that the rebate amount be changed from $20,000 to 50 per cent of the lot price.
Due to time constraints and scheduling conflicts, Administration was able to meet with only one of the three local builders the EDC had suggested, explained Egers.
The one builder suggested;
* The City should select a grouping of five lots within York Landing, preferably on Heath Court, to be eligible for the rebate in order to initiate a traditional parade of homes and spur further development in the subdivision;
* Approved homes should have an above grade square footage of between 1,400 – 2,200 sq ft, with a minimum of 1,000 sq ft on the main level;
* Approved homes should include a two-car garage, finished driveway, front-yard landscaping and finished posterior deck; and
* Primary exterior finishes should be accompanied by some type of complementary finish on the facade, such as stone, brick, etc.
“We can easily incorporate architectural controls into the policy,” said Egers.
“We were previously trying to be flexible, which is why the program was eligible for all City lots. However, the Parade of Homes concept would likely work better if all the homes were developed on the same street and concentrated development would theoretically spur additional construction in York Landing.”
Increases in the rebate would equate to increased lot discounts.
Egers noted, the City has been averse to lot discounts.
The reasoning includes that lots are sold on a cost recovery basis and their development is self-sustained by the City’s land development fund. Lot discounts would create losses in the land fund, and those losses would eventually have to be subsidized by the general revenue fund, which is primarily funded by property taxes, he explained.
And, discounts to City-owned lots would create inequities with the private market, whereby the City would effectively be undercutting private lot owners who also have to pay vacant land taxes to carry their inventory.
Council previously agreed to allocate a total of $100,000 in funding toward the Program in 2024.
The funding was being reallocated from the Business Improvement Incentive Program (BIIP), which will be funded in 2024 by BIIP reserve funds from 2021-2023 (approximately $100,000).
The resolution brought forward by the EDC to offer a 50 per cent lot discount allocation required an increase to at least $295,000, explained Egers.
Members of the EDC suggested this increase could be funded by the Land Fund.
“Additionally, debts in the Land Fund have previously been covered through internal loans – but with the progression of the York Road Reconstruction Project, we are now externalizing debt which, in turn, increases the costs for debt-servicing,” said Egers.
In the end, Council approved the revised Show Home Rebate Program, including architectural controls, lot choices focused on Heath Court, an extended application deadline of January 31, 2024 and a new budget of $295,000.
nd a new budget of $295,000.
