| Cost
of Community Services (COCS) Study for Red Deer County |
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Land use planning in
rural municipalities is having increasingly significant implications
for the environment, and for the cultural and historical character
of our communities. Understanding the fiscal implications of a
land use is a key piece of understanding their sustainability.
With the support of the Alberta Real Estate Foundation, the Miistakis
Institute conducted a Cost of Community Services (COCS) study
for Red Deer County.
A COCS study determines a municipality's public service costs
versus revenues based on current land uses for a single fiscal
year. Every dollar of revenue and every dollar of expenditure
is allocated to one of four broad land use categories: Commercial,
Industrial, Residential, and Working Landscapes (Agriculture).
Ratios are calculated for each land use comparing expenditures
with revenues, ultimately showing for each dollar of revenue how
many dollars in public service costs the municipality is incurring
for that land use.
Red Deer County now has a picture of the relative costs of land
use, one that shows that Residential land use is a fiscal drain
for the County, Industrial land use is a fiscal boon, and Commercial
and Working Landscapes at worst break even.
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