The Regional Municipality of York could be adding $370 million to its budget over the next decade, thanks to a new provincial legislation bringing more development charges into the fold.
The region stands to benefit from Bill 185, the Cutting Red Tape and Building More Homes Act. If passed, the region estimates it could collect $370 million more in development charges than expected over the next 10 years, according to a report presented to regional council April 25.
“Bill 185 proposed changes ... will have a positive financial impact on region and its ability to fund growth infrastructure,” the report said, but added that council still advocates for some changes.
The act removes the requirement to phase in new development charge bylaws, brought about by provincial Bill 23, allowing York Region to collect more development charges under its 2022 bylaw. While the region still expects to lose $330 million in development charges over 10 years due to Bill 23, that estimate was $700 million before the changes in Bill 185.
The bill also makes growth-related studies an eligible cost for development charges again. However, the municipality is still pushing for housing services to be brought back as an eligible cost, with the region originally expecting to use $109 million in development charges to help fund community housing over the next 10 years.
Meanwhile, the region’s days as a planning authority could be coming to an end. The provincial bill would remove the region from that position as of July 1.
While regional staff praised many provisions of the bill, including the ability to shift servicing allocation away from developments not progressing, it said municipalities have work ahead of them to navigate the planning changes.
“Many lower tier municipalities across southern Ontario have expressed interest in greater autonomy for land use planning,” staff said. “While planning-related decisions can be addressed by the local municipal planning authority, there will be a need to closely co-ordinate planning and implementation of regional infrastructure and services.”
Bill 185 has yet to pass, with the province currently collecting feedback.
Regional staff said they are preparing a transition plan for shifting more planning responsibilities to the local municipality.
