Whereas many smaller communities rely on not-for-profits and outside agencies to provide affordable and social purpose built rental housing; And whereas the Growing Communities Fund allows for the money to be invested in affordable housing, but requires that the controlling interest in the project must be owned by the local government providing the funding; And whereas forcing local governments to own rental housing when this is not their expertise, can create future asset management concerns, and can limit the ability to leverage the dollars and limit the ability to support local not-for-profit partnerships: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM ask the Province to amend the funding requirements for the Growing Communities Fund to give local governments more autonomy and flexibility to invest the money in their local communities and to work with local partners, without requiring ownership of projects.
Ministry of Municipal Affairs The Growing Community Fund does not require amounts to be invested by local governments in affordable housing. The intent of the fund is to support local governments as they build infrastructure that provides services to growing communities, particularly for housing. The province recognizes that housing growth requires important services provided by local governments. In this time of rapid growth and cost inflation, the Growing Communities Fund permits local governments to make their own decisions about what services most need this support. They have significant flexibility to use the funds, as long as the funds are used for infrastructure or related costs and are owned by the local government. Local government ownership is considered crucial to this program as it helps ensure accountability, and the continuity of the maintenance and renewal of the funded infrastructure. There are other methods with which local governments can support not-for-profits that own or are developing affordable housing. A municipality can provide property tax exemption and waive or reduce development cost charges related to the affordable housing development.