By Pepper Parr
February 17th, 2026
BURLINGTON, ON
Feedback from citizens who don’t like what they think is happening with the plans to eliminate Development charges for a two year peiod.
Can Burlington, acting alone, save the development industry
Developers don’t share profits in good years; in bad years, they expect us to share the losses
Property taxes are not geared to income; people on fixed incomes should not be forced to bail out industries. This is a federal or provincial responsibility
Ward 6 Councillor Angelo Bentivegna
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward.
In an election year, why are Bentivegna, the anti-tax guy, and MMW pushing this?
Why are all levels of government taxing housing to such a large extent
Can we pay postal workers to deliver flyers, auto workers to make climate-killing cars, and developers to build condos when there are thousands of condos on the market?
This council initiative has all the elements to end up like a fish that smells.
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Also there is one developer in Burlington who reneged on so many promises made in order to gain extra height that they were assessed a $300,000 fine as a disincentive to delay securing a building permit for the second phase of a project. To my knowledge the fine has yet to be paid and the second phase has yet to be started. It’s been about 8-10 years now that the city has been waiting for this fine to be paid and for the second phase of development to begin, which included medical offices and public parking downtown.
That said, the City assigned this fee under a section 41 agreement under the planning act which is apparently not enforceable. Huh?!?
Seems Burlington Councils have been making curious decisions with regard to developers for a number of years, compounded now with the unilateral use of SMP, which have undoubtedly heavily impacted citizens’ municipal taxes. How much more of our money is Council going to waste?
It would be good to have a few years with little building to reassess plans to see what the citizens want rather than what developers want.
If our mayor and the majority of our council members approve the elimination of Development Charges for a 2 year period in an Election Year, Burlington residents should be forewarned!!!
Do you really want our current mayor and council elected for another 4 year term in October 2026???
I am opposed to eliminating Development charges for Developers.
Why and how did Burlington City Councillors get so out of touch with the wishes of the people they represent.
Why this would even be considered boggles the mind.
Perhaps there is more to this than we know. Has Burlington reached the targeted number of housing units it promised to get the funding it was given? If not, would the city have to repay the government for this failure?
As I said previously if the developers can ask for a 2 year moratorium on development fees certainly the residents of Burlington should be able to ask for a 2 year moratorium on paying their property taxes.
I often question how the residents of Burlington elected this council into office.