Developers will now pay more for infrastructure in new communities – a cost that will likely be passed on the homebuyers.

After months of negotiations and hours of council debate, an agreement was reached between the City of Calgary and the development industry.

“There’s no question that the current fee level is too low,” said Mayor Naheed Nenshi. “As I’ve been saying for many, many, many months, every time we put up a new home at the outskirts of the city, that new home costs us somewhere between $10,000 to $15,000.”

Nenshi said developers were previously shouldering roughly 25 per cent of the cost of a new development and will now cover about 50 per cent.

“Does it need to be closer to 100 per cent? Probably. The question is how quickly do we get there.”

Michael Flynn, executive director of the Calgary chapter of the Urban Development Institute, said he’s pleased council members didn’t alter the proposal that took the two sides months to finalize.

“Are we happy with the doubling of the levies? Of course not,” he said. “I don’t think either side is completely happy, which is usually the sign of a fair and equitable agreement.”