A regional development fee is being contemplated in Metro Vancouver.

The proposed levy is intended to help fund new investments in transit and transportation. Identified as a revenue source by the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation, the suggested charge would have to be legislated by the province.

The levy is separate from the development charges collected by municipal governments.

In addition to a new regional development fee, the mayors’ council has also proposed to increase transit fares and property taxes starting in 2017.

TransLink is conducting public consultations until the end of October about the first phase of the mayors’ 10-year plan for transit.

A background paper prepared by TransLink about the development fee states that the “region would be able to bear a rate in the range of $700 to $2,000 per new residential unit”.

The document claims that the new levy will not affect prices of new homes.

“Instead, developers will generally seek to reduce the amount that they pay for development sites,” the backgrounder states. “At the rates contemplated within this Plan, the new regional development fee is not expected to significantly impact the financial performance of new projects or to affect the pace of new urban development, so there would be no negative impact on housing affordability.”

TransLink staff will be available to answer questions about the 10-year transit-investment plan on Thursday (October 27) at an open house in New Westminster. The event will be held at the Centennial Community Centre (65 East Sixth Avenue) from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.