“Let the building begin!” says Mayor Parrish.
Peel Regional Council passed a motion on June 26 to defer and/or reduce development charges on new residential construction by 50%. When the motion was originally proposed by Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish at Peel Council on June 12, Brampton and Caledon councillors objected and walked out, citing high financial risk.
The motion passed two weeks later following a preliminary commitment from the provincial government to make up for the lost development charges by funding infrastructure in the region.
“Dramatic changes to our way of doing business,” Mayor Parrish wrote on social media. “50% reduction in Development Charges, 35% tax reduction / 35 years on purpose built rentals and much more. Let the building begin!”
If a funding agreement with the province is not reached by October 17 of this year, the development charge reduction plan will automatically end and would require a majority vote by Peel Council to reinstate.
The region will also apply for grants from the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund – Municipal Direct Stream as another way to offset the cost of the reduced development charges.