Misty Meadows is one of eight RV parks at Candle Lake, impacted by a site fee increase. (Submitted photo/Glenis Clarke)

By Nigel Maxwell

Municipal issues

Candle Lake RV park owners frustrated by fee increase

Oct 22, 2021 | 5:00 PM

Frustrated by what they are calling a lack of communication and transparency from their elected council, the owners of the RV parks at Candle Lake are speaking about a site fee increase that has in many cases forced them to pay tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket.

The increase this from $400 to $611 per site, was part of budget decisions which were not finalized until June. The problem facing the park owners is that they billed and were paid by their clients six months prior, and did not feel it was right going back asking for more money.

Bryan Pawlachuk and Mark Riffel are the co-owners of the RV park at Candle Lake Golf Resort. Riffel said he was shocked when he received the letter from the resort village informing them of the change.

“The bulk of it, ourselves, it was another $68,000 that we would be basically be removing from our profits and paying to the village,” he said.

“Last fall the newly elected council, inheriting the issue, offered to meet to work together on a fee structure that would find fairness going forward, but the litigating RV park owners declined the offer.” _{– Mayor Terry Kostyna}

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According to the actual letter distributed to the eight RV parks, the actual cost increase per site was $727 but acknowledging a “significant increase” was occurring, council discounted the fee for 2021 to $611.

The Candle Lake Golf Resort is responsibe for over 200 sites. (Submitted/Nathalie Pawlachuk)

Essentially the reason given in the letter for the fee increase was that the resort village was working towards establishing fees representative of the services provided to RV park season residents.

Riffel claimed that within the letter itself, were mistakes including an explanation that the fee formula was based on 716 sites, and not the actual 781. Nor was there any consideration for the nearby provincial parks or municipalities around Candle Lake that would use the same services.

“So right off the bat, we saw an error in their math,” Riffel said, adding by not also including the 200 provincial park sites, it’s creating an unfair playing field.

“Our guests have to pay $700 a year permit fee and their guests have to pay 0.”

Another mistake noted by Riffel is that the resort village based their math on the belief that the users of the RV sites were using local services for six months of the year, but in actuality the RV parks are only open for four months. Pawlachuk explained their attempts to send letters to the resort village, requesting an in-person meeting, have to date been met with no response.

“When [the mayor] ran for his platform he was wanted to communicate regularly, clearly, respectfully, and be transparent, and if anything it’s been the opposite,” he said.

Pawlachuk said they’ve already talked to eight users who indicated they will not be returning, saying the price was unreasonable. Whether or not the sites are empty or full, the owners pay the same price.

Other experiences

Enchanted Harbor Marina has 88 sites. First time business owners Ryan and Terri Spiller have, as a result of the fee increase, been forced to pay over $18,000.

“The tough part is where does this end,” Terri asked. “This is going to come to where it’s unaffordable for people to go to the lake and it’s unfortunate because this is a time where you can’t really travel internationally so we take pride in our lakes in Saskatchewan.”

Terri explained their users have asked what the fee increase is actually going towards, and it’s a question she said she cannot answer. Ryan confirmed he had spoken to four councillors.

“Really good conversations with them but in the end it went nowhere. We’ve had no official communication back from our letters,” he said.

The owners of Misty Meadows don’t feel it’s fair to charge a young family or retired people a fee to use their trailer for 3.5 months, a similar fee to the base tax on a year round cabin. (Submited/ Glenis Clarke)

Larry Watts, co-owner of Misty Meadows on the west side of Candle Lake, has roughly 90 sites. He said he can understand the need for a contribution to the community, but adds he feels he already pays for the services he uses through his property taxes.

“And then when that’s done they come back and they charge us a fee per site just because they can and because they have managed to get away with it,” he said.

Misty Meadows is one of four RV parks that took the resort village to court over the matter. A decision on November’s hearing at Prince Albert Court of Queen’s Bench is still pending. Watts believes the resort village has misinterpreted municipal rules, explaining provincial legislation does not allow a municipality to tax an RV.

“It’s a throw back to the old days when the government was trying to encourage good things like camping,” he said.

Response from government

According to a statement from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Government Relations, municipalities, as a level of government, have authority to pass bylaws for matters within their jurisdiction, which includes but is not limited to implementing a system of licenses or permits.

“The Municipalities Act also provides specific authority for trailer license fees and ability for council to implement various tax tools,” the statement said.

Without knowing under which authorities the elected council used to implement the fees, the ministry said it cannot provide any further information on this matter.

Response from the Mayor

In a statement from Mayor Terry Kostyna, he explained the issue of RV Park Fees at the Resort Village of Candle Lake is indeed a very complicated one, based on an in-depth policy analysis.

“However, it’s simple at the heart of it: it is about implementing some fairness for all our residents in apportioning the cost of municipal services that support the businesses and seasonal residents at our RV parks,” he said.

Kostyna went on to explain the RV parks reflect nearly 40 per cent of the resort village’s very significant seasonal population climb, but, historically, the rest of the tax base has been left to predominantly cover the costs of municipal services tied directly to that seasonal spike.

“The issue involves more than just a handful of business owners, it is about finding fairness for everyone in the community,” he said.

In response to the claims that council has not been transparent, Kostyna argued it would be inaccurate to say there has not been dialogue on the issue, and explained communication regarding RV Park fees and bylaws related to park fees has been ongoing for a number of years. He also cited the 2020 court litigation to challenge the bylaw fee structure of previous councils.

“Last fall the newly elected council inheriting the issue offered to meet to work together on a fee structure that would find fairness going forward, but the litigating RV park owners declined the offer; so council has gone ahead and implemented the 2021 RV park fee structure, and RV park owners in recent weeks have presented their views to our administration and to council,” Kostyna said.

Kostyna added the current Resort Village Council is committed to achieving greater fairness across the municipality in how RV parks proportionately contribute to the cost of village operations and services.

“This is one of the things we heard from the community when the last Council was completely replaced in last year’s election. Council believes the new fee structure implemented in 2021 achieves greater fairness in this regard,” he said.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell