Bruce County Council approved the direction for the implementation of development charges within the county.
The original proposal would have development charges starting in 2024 at 80% of the full amount of $7,665, and increasing to 100% by 2028.
In the updated proposal, 2024 would start at 25%, and the increases would continue to 100% of the charges in 2028.
Councillor Don Murray, who is the mayor of Huron-Kinloss, had suggested as a friendly amendment to extend the amount of time building up to 100 percent should be delayed to 2031, thus making the implementation more gradual.
Kincardine Mayor Kenneth Craig says that the revised schedule is fine, but there was no need to extend it further. “I don’t think that the extension is productive. I would suggest that someone who’s coming to develop [is] not unfamiliar with development charges. I think the delay of it only adds to the pain of what the Bruce County general levy is going through.”
Development charges are based on non-residential building construction prices according to provincial regulations.
Over the 5-year implementation period, the county estimates that $3.4 million will be under-collected from developers.
The Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula would also be provided exemptions, as they currently do not charge development charges on a municipal level, and wanted certain exemptions, namely that they would be able to exempt homes under 1000 square feet, in order to promote the construction of affordable housing options.
The staff report says that the more graduated 5-year phase-in would provide greater reductions to developers, which would have to be offset by internal contributions from the County to ensure sufficient funds to complete the projects.