Amherstburg town council has turned down a federal-provincial program that requires cuts to development charges, while several other communities in Essex County have opted into this plan to encourage more housing construction.
Before Friday, councils across Ontario need to decide whether they want to participate in the program. If municipalities reduce development fees by 30 to 50 percent, they will receive infrastructure funding directly from the province for land preparation for building.
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Michael Prue is the mayor of Amherstburg, Ont. (CBC)
Amherstburg council voted against applying for the program on Monday. The council talked about how lowering revenue from development fees over three years could ultimately cost local taxpayers millions.
Mayor Michael Prue mentioned that the program seems better suited for larger cities.
“The development charges we do not get from the developers until the home is occupied. So we have to put the money in the bank or take it from the reserves or something, and then we have to ask the taxpayers to fund it up front in order to get it back later,” he told the council Monday.
“It’s just not a good idea.”
Other nearby municipalities like Essex, Lakeshore, and La Salle have already chosen to proceed with the program.
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Counc. Peter Courtney says “there’s a lot of confusion in the air” around the $8.8-billion federal-provincial housing grant program and that Amherstburg council has decided to reject its bid for the grant over cost concerns. (Tahmina Aziz/CBC)
“If we can get some grant funding, it’ll help ease our taxes. This one in particular did not, at least it wasn’t presented that way or it wasn’t conclusive,” Courtney told CBC’s Windsor Morning Wednesday.
“It just wasn’t adding up that there was going to be any money that would be saved… There’s a lot of devils in the details, and there was a lot of details, it seemed like. So that’s why we said no.”
Courtney expressed a need for streamlining processes as “there’s a lot of confusion in the air.” He moved on Monday for the town instead to request rebates directly from higher levels of government for homeowners who paid development charges.
“I think it would go a lot further for a new homeowner to have some cash back in pocket after a big transaction like buying a home.”‘Just not sustainable’
This comes as new housing developments in Ontario saw a slight decline last month, with numbers falling short of their goal of 175,000 new homes this year and 1.5 million by 2031.
Data from Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation showed an annual drop of 6 percent nationally in housing starts during May compared with April.
Scott Andison, CEO of Ontario Home Builders’ Association stated that CMHC’s figures reflect ongoing challenges developers face due to tariffs and high interest rates leading consumers’ confidence downward.
‘Devil’s in the details’
Amherstburg Councillor Peter Courtney warned that cutting these charges could result in a loss of up to $5 million in revenue. He also noted that deadlines were “tight” since municipalities received information on June 2, which was less than three weeks before applications were due.“I think it would go a lot further for a new homeowner to have some cash back in pocket after a big transaction like buying a home.”
