City council rejected a request from Habitat for Humanity to waive the fees and permit charges on the charitable organization's latest home builds.
Habitat for Humanity builds homes for families who would not otherwise be able afford to own a home. Prince George Habitat for Humanity executive director Jo-Ann Pickering said construction of the agency's seventh home in Prince George is set to begin in May.
The charity has paid $13,477 in fees to the city to prepare the site at 1938 Juniper St. for construction.
"We'll get it done, we always do," Pickering said. "But that's $13,000 - that was going to pay for all our cement work. We're just asking for our own money back."
In 2011 the city waived approximately $3,000 in permits for Habitat for Humanity's 2011 project, she said.
All six previous homes built pay taxes to the city and have created infill development, she said.
The home recipient, Cassandra Houston and her two children, are required to put in 500 hours of volunteer time and pay an interest-free mortgage on the home, she added.
"It doesn't add anything to the homeowner's [cost]. It just stops us from building faster," she said. "It just slows our whole home down to find donations of materials."
City council was unanimous in rejecting the request.
Conc. Cameron Stolz said Habitat for Humanity applied to the city for a grant to offset the permit costs under the city's social grant program, but didn't qualify.
"We have a very limited budget. I'm concerned about cherry-picking things that have already been denied by staff," Stolz said. "For council to go and undermine what staff does, I'm not comfortable with that."
Coun. Murry Krause said last year council covered the permit costs for Habitat for Humanity out of council's contingency budget. However, this year council doesn't have a significant contingency budget to work with.
"This early in the year I'd be concerned about spending this," Krause said. "It's unfortunate that for the social grants not everyone is eligible.
"We had $400,000 in requests for a $100,000 pot."
