User Fee Design By Canadian Municipalities: Considerations Arising From The Case Law

Abstract

Municipal governments in Canada have come to rely increasingly on user fees to fund local services, as they struggle to deal with the combined pressures of federal and provincial devolution of responsibility for such services and the political costs of raising property taxes. While there is a substantial body of literature regarding the rationale for user fees, little information exists about how to design and implement a user fee so as to ensure that it satisfies the legal requirements for imposing this type of levy. The authors provide a detailed review of the existing Canadian case law to highlight key legal, technical, and administrative issues facing municipalities in designing and implementing user fees. The discussion focuses in particular on the principal legal tests for user fees and the application of those tests in specific cases. Through their analysis, the authors draw attention to several unresolved issues and inconsistencies in the application