Belleville development charges to increase 10%, for now

Belleville Council has decided to increase development charges by 10% and then look at a potential further increase later this year.

The charges are placed on builders of new housing or industrial developments, with the money brought in helping to pay for the cost of new water, sewer and other infrastructure.

Those costs on developers typically turn into higher housing prices and in turn, get passed on to new buyers.

Councillors debated the decision at their regular meeting on Monday night with some, including Councillor Bill Sandison, feeling that the charges aren’t high enough and that current residents are overpaying for new development.

“Existing residents have subsidized new home buyers here for far too long, through taxes and user fees. We need to remove the unfair financial burden from the backs of existing residents and have new home buyers pay their fair share.”

Councillor Ryan Williams, pointed out that higher development charges means higher housing prices, and that’s already a problem, especially when not all new home buyers are coming from out of town.

“If our goal as a city is to keep costs down for housing, and that’s houses and rentals, we have to make sure we’re looking at all those costs. And yes, it’s up to us to understand the cost that it takes to keep this city going and that’s why I’ve asked that when the home builders get together with staff later this year, we talk about intensification.”

Councillor Paul Carr noted that the city has built up a healthy reserve fund from development charges over the years, currently at about $11.6 million and that as capital projects get funded, the city uses that money.

He and many others around the table felt that balance will be key when discussions begin again later this year, heading into 2022.