Update March 17, 2023 - The RM responded on Friday, saying, “The RM does not want to comment on an ongoing legal matter, other than to say that the Bylaw was written with the assistance of legal counsel and the RM believes it is in compliance with the Municipalities Act. All legal matters are discussed in closed session (in camera) including this court application. Councilor Strong is excluded from those closed sessions and any communication on the subject with RM legal counsel. Any decisions made regarding the matter will be made without him. Councilor Strong is voluntarily complying with these procedures.”
March 16th, 2023
Rowan’s Ridge RV Resort Limited in the RM of McKillop, owned by Mark and Marcia Strong, is challenging the RM’s campground service fee bylaw that came into force on January 1st of this year. Mark Strong is also a Council member in the RM. While Strong said he was advised not to comment at this time about the filing, when asked how it would be handled because he is also a councillor in the RM, he said, “I must declare a conflict of interest and excuse myself from any discussion council has on this matter.”
The campground is one of two campgrounds currently operating in the RM and the only one affected by the bylaw that imposes a $100/per campsite annual infrastructure service fee they claim is being used to “top up” their taxes. They are asking for a Judicial review of the bylaw.
Filed on December 8th, 2022, the summary of material facts says the campground started operating in 2020 between May and September with annual taxes of just over $12,300. Of this, $8,147 goes into the RM’s general account to maintain and operate RM services and infrastructure such as the landfill, lagoon, police, fire and recreation services and roads.
The $100 fee has been broken down in the bylaw to cover $30 for sewage and lagoon service, $46 for fire and policing services and $24 for landfill services. The campground says they transport their sewage and garbage outside of the RM, have their own fire truck, and the RM has not had to hire extra police service since the campground came into operation. The campground says they have their own water supply, and campers don’t use the RMs roads because they arrive on provincially maintained highways and use provincial park passes, which they supply.
Rowan’s Ridge says the fee will increase their costs an additional $6,850 and the RM can increase at any time at their discretion. Rowan’s Ridge also said the RM requires the fees be paid regardless if they use any of the services and there was no impact study or research done to determine the amount or formula to arrive at the amount.“The service fees were implemented to ‘top up’ the taxes the Applicant pays annually to McKillop.”
They say the fee increase will be severely determinantal to the campground because they will have to pass it on to their customers and that other nearby campgrounds in other RMs don’t require similar fees. Because of this, they may lose campers, potentially making it impossible for them to remain open.
The matter has been adjourned to March 23rd, and the RM has yet to respond with filings to the court. The RM said they are at the SARM convention and will provide a comment on Friday.
