Amherstburg council to discuss development charges

Amherstburg could be the next local municipality to slash development charges.

A special council meeting has been called for Monday, June 15 to discuss the ‘Canada-Ontario Development Charge Reduction Program.’

The program was announced in March and is an $8.8 billion federal-provincial funding program.

It supports housing-enabling infrastructure projects in municipalities that substantially reduce and maintain development charges.

Deputy mayor Chris Gibb says council has yet to receive a report from administration but is excited for the discussion.

“We’ll see what administration comes up with, which project would put Amherstburg’s best foot forward to take advantage of this opportunity,” says Gibb.

He says the program could help the municipality unlock some major housing projects.

“We are still in a housing crisis, so this may be a way to bring more affordable—quote unquote, affordable’—housing to the area,” he says.

Gibb says he’ll monitor what other municipalities are doing but will do what’s best for Amherstburg.

“We need a made-in-Amherstburg solution for Amherstburg residents, and I’m really just excited to see what the project will entail,” says Gibb.

On Monday, Kingsville council unanimously approved cutting development charges by 50 per cent for three years, meeting a requirement to reduce fees by 30 to 50 per cent under a new federal-provincial infrastructure program.

Municipalities have until June 19 to apply to the program.