If you’re saving up to build a new home in Collingwood, you may want to start putting some extra money aside.
The town is looking at raising its development charges.
Gary Scanlan, Associate Director of Watson and Associates Economists Ltd., is working on updating the town’s development charge study.
The information will help the town update its development charge by-law.
Scanlan says you only have to pay development charges if you’re building a new home.
The charges come in when you get a building permit or as part of your purchase agreement if you’re buying through a developer.
He says the development charge is currently just over 10 thousand dollars and it would jump to 21 thousand if council approves it.
Scanlan says council will have the option of phasing it in.
Development charges are used to pay for roads and other municipal services.
Scanlan tells us the development charges are going up because the cost of construction materials has gone up quite a bit over the last five years and also because of the costs of having to expand the roads.
He says it’s tough to say whether the increase in development charges will deter people from building.
Scanlan says if the town doesn’t recover costs, homeowners would have to pay more in property taxes and water and sewer rates.
Town staff will now take this information and put together a report for council’s consideration and then there will be a public meeting in the not too distant future.
