Belleville granted $14.4M in industrial subsidies over 3 years, funded by property taxes

Between January 26, 2022 and May 14, 2025, Belleville granted owners of industrial land $14.4 million – roughly $4.1 million per year – in development charge exemptions, subsidizing the development of their properties. The City’s revenue shortfall created by this optional incentive program was made up by increases to residents’ property taxes and water/wastewater rates.

From January 25, 2016 to July 14, 2025 Belleville’s policy was to not charge owners of industrial properties any Development Charges (DC) for the redevelopment, expansion, or change of use of the buildings or structures on their property by setting the charges for “industrial use” land to “nil”.

The development charge with respect to the use of any land, buildings or structures shall be calculated as follows:

(2)(e) in the case of an “industrial use” the applicable charge shall be nil

Development Charge Bylaw

“Industrial use” means lands, buildings or structures used or designed or intended for use for manufacturing, processing, fabricating or assembly of raw goods, warehousing or bulk storage of goods, and includes office uses and the sale of commodities to the general public where such uses are accessory to an industrial use, but does not include the sale of commodities to the general public through a warehouse club or an agricultural use.

Some of the exemptions:

• 2022: $1,289,600
• 2023: $4,288,600
• 2024: $3,481,900
• 2025: $612,600

Development charges are fees to help municipalities recover the initial capital costs of expanding City infrastructure to provide services (roads, water, sewers, etc.) to new developments. Revenue shortfalls resulting from optional DC exemptions incentives or lower rates are required by law to be covered by other funding sources, such as property taxes or user fees.

On July 14, 2025, Belleville Council removed the 100% discount to help manage the impact on taxpayers and ratepayers and to keep pace with infrastructure and service and infrastructure needs through the City.

Non-residential development still subsidized by 50%

The Development Charges Act requires municipalities to complete a Development Charges Background Study to prove how much it actually costs them to service new growth (roads, pipes, fire stations, etc.) before they can update their Development Charges Bylaw and start collecting fees from developers. The rates calculated in the study reflect the break-even amount to fund the infrastructure costs attributable to new developments and are the maximum the municipality is legally allowed to charge.

The 2021 Belleville Development Charges Background Study calculated non-residential development charges effective January 26, 2022 to January 26, 2027, indexed by the non-residential construction price index.

On December 13, 2021, Belleville’s 2022 Development Charges Bylaw set non-residential development charges that were lower than the maximum in the Background Study.

Non-residential development charges per sqft. of Gross Floor Area

The non-residential DC rate included in by-law 2021-201 was set at rates 63% (urban) and 45% (rural) lower than what was calculated in the 2021 D.C. Background Study, so industrial property owners are paying roughly half the actual cost to build the necessary infrastructure to service non-residential developments and Belleville residents are paying for roughly the other half. The $14.4 million only accounts for the exemption directly, not the lost funds due to the lower rates set.

The 2025 Update Study and by-law amendment did not modify the DC rates. It is an interim step to the full, comprehensive DC Background Study that will evaluate all rates, including the non-residential rate.

Industrial development charge comparison

As of January 8, 2026, non-residential development charges per sqft. of Gross Floor Area were: