As Prince Edward County braces for significant infrastructure costs — from the $100-million Wellington water plant expansion to long-deferred road, sewer, and stormwater projects — one principle must guide local decision-making: growth must pay for growth.
For too long, the financial risk of development has been shifted onto existing residents. Households already grappling with some of the highest water bills in Ontario and steep property tax increases cannot continue to subsidize speculative projects. Development charges (DCs) — the fees municipalities levy on developers to cover the cost of new infrastructure — are meant to prevent exactly that. Yet in practice, loopholes, deferrals, and opaque decision-making have eroded their effectiveness.
Why Development Charges Matter
When a subdivision is approved or a new commercial plaza built, the costs are not limited to bricks and mortar. New projects require expanded water and wastewater capacity, upgraded pumping stations, widened roads, and added stormwater management. In a small municipality like Prince Edward County, those costs are measured in the tens of millions.
If DCs do not fully capture these expenses, the shortfall is pushed onto existing ratepayers. That means a family in Picton or Ameliasburgh paying higher water bills or property taxes to cover infrastructure that primarily benefits developers’ balance sheets. This is fundamentally unfair. Growth must be self-sustaining, not a hidden tax on residents.
The Risk of Idle Projects
Another pressing concern is speculative projects that tie up water and wastewater capacity without breaking ground. When developers secure approvals but fail to build, capacity that could serve other needs sits idle. Meanwhile, the County has already incurred planning, engineering, and financing costs.
A proposed “use it or lose it” clause, revoking unused allocations after three years, is a step in the right direction. Without such measures, residents are effectively subsidizing paper developments that may never materialize.
Full Transparency: A Lobbyist Registry
Equally critical is transparency around the relationships between councillors, staff, and developers. These discussions involve millions of taxpayer dollars and shape the future of the County’s communities. Yet at present, residents have little visibility into who is lobbying decision-makers, what commitments are being sought, or whether conflicts of interest exist.
Lobby Registry: Time for Transparency: Why Prince Edward County Needs a Lobbyist Registry for Higher Accountability. [Read more]
Prince Edward County needs a public lobbyist registry — a standard tool in municipalities across Canada, from Ottawa to Toronto. Every meeting, email, and phone call between developers and elected officials should be disclosed. Councillors are paid by taxpayers and are accountable to them. Residents, as their true employers, have a right to know what is being negotiated on their behalf.
Protecting Residents, Restoring Trust
Making growth pay for growth and creating a lobbyist registry are not anti-development measures. They are about ensuring fairness, accountability, and sustainability. Developers will still build — but they will do so knowing that they are responsible for the full cost of the infrastructure their projects require. And councillors will still deliberate — but with full disclosure to the public that elected them.
Property Taxes: A mounting combination of taxes and fees that now place PEC among the most heavily taxed communities in Ontario. [Read more]
With water bills already exceeding $700 per cycle for some households, and property taxes rising nearly 9% in 2024, residents cannot be asked to carry more hidden costs. Development must fund itself. Transparency must be mandatory, not optional.
Anything less risks undermining both affordability and trust in local government.