Brownfields Programs
Brownfields Community Improvement Plan Cover
The Department is also responsible for administering the Brownfields Programs.
The primary purpose of the Brownfields Programs for existing and previous older industrial areas is to provide a range of financial incentives to support redevelopment activities, and to help meet eligibility requirements for Federal and Provincial funding assistance programs.
1. Brownfields Building Rehabilitation Loan Program
The purpose of this program is to stimulate interest in rehabilitating obsolete, deteriorated and/or contaminated buildings in order that they may be reused. The registered owners of all properties located within the Brownfields Community Improvement Project Areas would be eligible to apply to the program. Each application received would be evaluated based on its own merit.
The Brownfields Building Rehabilitation Loan Program may be discontinued by City Council at any time.
2. Brownfields Planning, Development and Building Fees Grant Program
The purpose of this program is to stimulate investment on brownfields sites in the Project Areas through rebates from specific planning, development and building fees.
The rebate of such fees would demonstrate to the owners of brownfields sites that the City is attempting to assist in the rehabilitation of the older industrial districts of the City.
Under this proposal, Brownfield property owners would be required to submit planning, development and building applications and their associated fees to the City and comply with applicable municipal and provincial standards, regulations and policies. However, the cost of the application(s) would be rebated in the form of a grant.
The grant program would apply to all eligible buildings and sites located in the Brownfields Community Improvement Project Areas; provided that the total value of the grant approved under this program shall not exceed the cost of rehabilitating the lands and buildings.
The Brownfields Planning, Development and Building Fees Grant Program may be discontinued by City Council at any time.
3. Brownfields Tax Assistance Program
Property tax assistance for this Program is provided under the authority of Section 365.1 of the Municipal Act, 2001, which enables municipalities to cancel all or a portion of property tax levied on eligible brownfield properties. The legislation allows tax relief to be initiated during the period of time when clean-up is being done until such time as is specified in the municipal by-law or when the amount of tax relief equals the cost of remediation, for a period of up to 10 years. The intent of this program is to reduce or cover the remediation costs, including site assessments. A municipal by-law is required to be passed for a property for which an application is made for assistance. A single by-law can provide tax assistance for multiple properties if the by-law lists each property.
The Minister of Finance may approve matching education property tax assistance for an eligible property. The matching education property tax assistance may be provided on a different schedule from the assistance provided by the municipality and may be subject to additional conditions. Matching education property tax assistance will be considered by the Minister of Finance on a case-by-case basis under the Brownfields Financial Tax Incentive Program, typically for a maximum of three years as described in the Ministry program guide. However, applications with longer development periods may be approved by the Minister of Finance under the program if there are exceptional circumstances.
As part of the tax assistance provided to the applicant, the City will also seek participation from the County of Lambton in order to provide for the cancellation of all or a portion of the taxes levied for municipal purposes by the County. Upper-tier assistance may be delivered differently than the assistance provided by the municipality and may be subject to additional conditions.
Tax assistance under the Program is applied to the costs of site remediation and is available during the rehabilitation and development periods of eligible properties. The maximum amount of tax assistance available is the cost of rehabilitating the property. The City would be responsible for establishing and administering the program and would set the eligibility criteria for tax assistance for the municipal portion of the property tax.
The Brownfields Tax Assistance Program may be discontinued by City Council at any time.
4. Brownfields Tax Increment Based Grant Program
The Tax Increment Based Grant Program will provide financial relief in the form of grants to property owners who undertake to rehabilitate properties within the Brownfields Community Improvement Project Areas that result in a re-assessment and a subsequent municipal tax increase on these properties. This program is designed to help mitigate a major financial impediment to brownfield rehabilitation efforts, namely the tax increase that results when a property is rehabilitated. This program is also designed to leverage public sector investment and helps to encourage rehabilitation that might otherwise not take place.
In order to minimize cost and financial risk to the City, the Tax Increment Based Grant program is structured as a “pay as you go” program. The property owner will initially pay for the entire cost of the rehabilitation project and pay all property taxes. The City will then reimburse a portion of the municipal taxes to the developer/property owner in the form of an annual grant, as the City receives the incremental property taxes.
The general framework for a tax increment grant program is described below.
Under the program, properties that are re-assessed as a result of rehabilitation will be eligible to apply for a grant for a period of up to ten (10) years following the work that would "trigger" an assessment increase. At the time of a building permit application, a property owner would register their intent to participate in the grant program.
The amount of municipal taxes paid would be determined, and upon the completion of the eligible works, the municipal taxes to be paid as a result of the re-assessment would be calculated. The difference between the municipal portion of the taxes prior to the works being undertaken, and the taxes after the completion of the eligible works shall be the portion eligible for a grant under this program. The building permit would act as the "trigger" for having the property re-assessed following the rehabilitation work.
The grant is self funding. That is, the municipal portion of the taxes collected is used to fund the grant program.
The grant schedule would be calculated for a period of up to ten (10) years, with the amount of the grant generally being consistent over the period.
The grant program would apply to all eligible buildings and sites located in the Brownfields Community Improvement Project Areas.
The proposed grant schedule for this element of the program would equal 100% of the increase in the municipal portion of taxes; provided that the total value of the grant provided under this program shall not exceed the cost of rehabilitating the lands and buildings.
The Brownfields Tax Increment Based Grant Program may be discontinued by City Council at any time. Any participants in the program prior to its closing would continue to receive the grants that were determined for their properties.
If there is a general increase in the tax rate after a property has been renovated or rehabilitated, and the property is eligible for the grant program, the property would not be exempted from the general tax rate increase, and the amount of the grant will continue to be based upon the annual tax analysis that will be done by the City.
For more information on Brownfields Programs, please contact Carol Ann Dillon, 519 332-0330 Ext. 294.
The "Brownfields Community Improvement Plan", guidelines and applications for these programs can be found at the "Applications/Guidelines" page.
