The City has developed a Heritage Incentive Program for properties designated under the Ontario Heritage Act. This program was initially conceived as part of the Planning Initiative of the Strategic Plan and was developed jointly by Planning Division and Financial Services to reflect the many and varied needs of designated property owners in Kingston. The Heritage Incentives Program was conceived not as a single program, but as a system of three programs that are supportive of diverse property owners through a series of interconnected initiatives.

Heritage Property Grant Program

The City has recently updated the Heritage Property Grant program. This review was completed in order to address a number of identified issues, as well as an anticipated increase in the number of grant applications. Under the new program, an owner of an eligible property may receive 50% of the total cost of an eligible project, to a maximum of $5,000, once every two years. Grant applications will be accepted starting on January 1 of each year, until the last business day in March.

Several major changes were approved as part of the new bylaw including:

1. Maximum amount of funding per grant has been increased from $2,000 to $5,000. Council has approved an increase to the 2018 program budget from $36,000 to $50,000;
2. Grants for the replacement of asphalt shingles, aluminum eaves troughs and masonry cleaning have been increased to a maximum of $2,500;
3. A grant application may be associated with a heritage permit that has already been approved, provided that the approval was within the last 12 months;
4. All applications will now be reviewed by staff and awarded by the Director of Planning, Building and Licensing. In the event that all eligible applications exceed the program budget, criteria will be used to allocate funding to the most deserving applications. In these cases, the Heritage Properties Working Group will be consulted on the final decision;
5. Applications will be received between January 1 and the last business day in March in order to review all applications together.

Heritage Property Tax Refund Program

Under the provisions of the Municipal Act, 2001, a 40% tax refund per property (subject to a maximum of $5,000 or the total cost of maintenance and eligible work as well as specific eligibility criteria) has been established for properties which have a heritage easement agreement. This refund would be awarded at a maximum of once every three years to ensure the longevity of the program. The tax relief will be processed as a refund after payment of taxes. Consistent with the deadlines that are applicable to other refund programs under the Municipal Act, 2001, property owners would have until the last day in February of the year following the tax year to apply for the tax refund (for example, the deadline for the 2015 tax year would be February 29, 2016).