Grey County is looking at designating some tax dollars exclusively to affordable housing.
Councillors are considering the idea of creating an affordable housing development fund. It would be used to build housing, buy land or provide rent supplements.
The Affordable Housing Task Force is recommending a tax levy increase of 1 per cent in 2021 to be dedicated solely to affordable housing.
It also recommends that each year thereafter, Grey County establishes a 1 per cent levy ( about $610,000) to be dedicated specifically to affordable housing.
Director of Housing Anne Marie Shaw told councillors Thursday, “Over the next four years, there is the capacity for us along with our own funding and looking at Provincial funding and what is available to make a sizeable dent in our waitlist, which is excellent news but it does require funding. In the last three years, we’ve been able to put together 54 units of affordable housing, which is excellent, but considering we have 550 people that live in Grey County that are waiting for housing that would look at us being able to complete our waitlist in 30 years.”
Shaw added, “Recognizing that we need to put some County dollars in, we were able to identify about five or six projects that would allow us to complete about 200 units in the next four years.”
Councillors supported the recommendation in their Committee of the Whole meeting Thursday, and will discuss it further in upcoming budget deliberations.