Construction activity in the Municipality of Grey Highlands has dropped off in 2024 as compared to 2023.
At its meeting on July 17, Grey Highlands council received three separate reports about local building activity and permits. Chief Building Official Karen Holt delivered the 2023 building report, along with the reports for the first and second quarters of 2024.
The year-to-date numbers in 2024 show that building activity, while still strong, has fallen off from the levels recorded in 2023.
At the end of June 2024, Grey Highlands had issued a total of 183 building permits for a total construction value of $31,399,461.90. At the same point in time in 2023, the municipality had issued a total of 202 permits with a total construction value of $41,856,825.
“Overall, it seems to be holding its own,” commented Mayor Paul McQueen after seeing the reports.
Coun. Nadia Dubyk asked staff about operating costs of the building department. Dubyk indicated concerns about the budget impact of building activity slowing down. Through the end of June Grey Highlands collected $205,848.86 in building department fees, this amount was down more than $100,000 from the $311,857 collected at the end of June 2024.
CAO Karen Govan explained that Grey Highlands has money in a building department reserve that can be utilized to offset any drop in fees collected that could result in a budget deficit for the department.
“Generally, we keep two years of operating expenses in reserve,” said Govan. “Our reserve level is healthy at this point.”
The year end building report for 2023, showed that Grey Highlands had a strong amount of building activity that year.
In 2023, the municipality issued a total of 471 permits with a total construction value of $86,163,265 and collected $614,091.91 in total permit fees.
