In the Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday evening, a recommendation was brought forward from town staff for a new $15,000/ year budget to fund a Heritage Property Tax Rebate Program, giving owners of designated heritage properties a 40 percent rebate on their taxes.
It was also recommended that council amend the Town's fee schedule to include a New Application Fee of $250, for anyone wishing to apply for the rebate, and a Renewal Application Fee of $50.
The Municipal Act and the Ontario Heritage Act permit municipalities to offer incentives to owners of designated heritage properties to offset some of the costs associated with maintenance and upkeep.
To be eligible, the province requires that a property be designated, under the Ontario Heritage Act, or be located within a Heritage Conservation District.
Under the proposed program, owners would be required to enter into a Heritage Conservation Agreement with the town, which sets out clear obligations regarding maintenance, and provides the town with the right to monitor and take remedial action if necessary.
Planner for the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury, Brandon Slopack noted that the municipality would work with each applicant on the agreement, which would have to be received by Dec. 31, 2020 in order to be considered for a rebate.
After the applications are received, the town would inspect each property and follow up with a tax credit, for those applications that were approved, in the form of a cheque.
Coun. Mark Contois was in favour of the program but questioned if $15,000 was enough money to fund the program.
“If you offer 40 percent, I just didn’t think it was enough,” he said.
Slopack noted that currently only five properties would be eligible for the program, predicting the number will go up to eight or nine in the next year and a half.
He noted the program would operate on a 'first come, first served' basis, and the budget for the program would be reviewed annually.
Coun. Peter Ferragine supported the recommendation. “I think it’s a great idea. We have been constantly talking about heritage buildings in our town and offering some incentive to keep the buildings up,” he said.
Coun. Gary Lamb agreed that it would be nice to have the program in place to honour the town’s history.
“I don’t think that’s a great deal of money for these mini museums," Lamb said. "I believe that we need to pay homage to the past and those families willing to invest in their building."
Coun. Raj Sandhu agreed.
“This is to preserve heritage, it’s for our social fabric of the community. I think that’s a small price to pay. I am sure we can find 15,000, it’s not a big amount,” said Sandhu.
Not all of council was on board. Deputy Mayor James Leduc was in favour of a rebate program, but not at the rate of 40 percent.
“We already got pressures on the numbers right now. I want to be a little bit conservative. And not everyone wants to support heritage in this community,” Leduc said. “There’s not a lot of communities that offer this tax rebate.”
He recommended a 20 percent rebate.
“I want to see quality heritage and the right heritage,” said Leduc. “It’s a lot of money and people are paying for it. I will not support the 40 percent tonight.”
A majority of councillors in Committee of the Whole voted to recommend approval of the new rebate program. It will come back for a vote at the next regular council meeting.
