This article was previously published on GuelphToday.
The developer behind a west end residential project claims it overpaid the city $809,000 and wants a refund.
Paisley & Whitelaw Inc. insists it paid more than it should have in development charges for its three buildings at 1098 Paisley Rd. – which stretches between Elmira and Whitelaw roads – and will ask city council next week to give the money back.
The overpayment, as explained in a letter sent to city officials on behalf of the developer, stems from excess development charges paid in 2019 for the first two buildings.
In 2022, city officials allegedly acknowledged the overpayment and agreed to put that money toward development charges for the third building. However, when building permits were sought for it, the previous overpayment wasn’t applied and the fees were calculated based on rates at the time, not 2019 rates which the developer contends should have been used.
“It would be an unfair windfall to the city if it was able to both charge interest to our client for the overpayment and at the same time, accrue interest on the overpayment through the city’s reserve fund account,” states a letter of complaint to the city, which is included in the council agenda package for a special meeting on Feb. 14.
The agenda also makes reference to a response from a lawyer for the city, but that’s not included in the package that’s been made publicly available. Legal advice received by council is typically dealt with behind closed doors but the response is identified as taking place during the open part of the meeting.
Council is set to be in-camera to deliberate before it returns to open session with a decision.
The council session is slated to begin at 5 p.m. and will be held at city hall. It will also be streamed live at guelph.ca/live.
