The Village of Blacks Harbour is developing a by-law to incentivise developers to build in the area as part of the municipality's proactive approach to tackling the housing crisis. At the regular September 2022 village council meeting, Senior Planner Alex Henderson of the Southwest New Brunswick Service Commission was in attendance to answer questions and offer advice on how council could achieve a viable by-law to attract builders to the region.

Henderson explained that the village could provide funding to developers but could guarantee a return on that funding by only agreeing to a transfer of funds once the developer became a tax payer in the community. 

"In this case, you would only be giving a grant after it is a tax paying property. You'd develop an agreement with the developer to determine the parameters of support, but it can be a win-win scenario, which means you don't provide funding until taxes are coming in," said Henderson.

Councillor Jordan Thompson asked Henderson if it was possible to provide developers with a rebate on the taxes that would be paid to the village after it has been developed to offset the development costs to incentivise developers.

"You can't rebate taxes under the Local Governance Act," explained Henderson. "You can, instead, provide grants after they are considered a tax paying property. You can give developers a grant once they reach tax-payer status."

Another benefit to providing grants after a developer reaches tax-payer status is that it encourages follow through on development plans.

Henderson also advised council on how to amend the by-law permitting chickens on residential properties in the community to allow for other small farm animals by setting a weight limit as opposed to adhering to strict parameters based on type of species. This would allow a resident to have, for example, a duck on his/her property without requiring a new by-law to be passed for each new circumstance.