Grey County homeowners could see higher taxes in the coming years after Grey County Council voted on June 11, 2026 to include the full cost of its long-term climate plan in next year’s budget discussions. The decision means staff will now prepare a funding proposal that could expand the county’s climate team and accelerate local emissions targets under the Going Green in Grey plan, a 28-year road map adopted in 2022.
The plan aims to cut community greenhouse gas emissions 30 per cent by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2050, with even more aggressive targets for county operations: a 40 per cent reduction by 2030 and net-zero by 2045. To get there, the new costs would pay for two levy-funded climate positions instead of the current one, plus an extra contract role, with a focus on corporate actions and tracking the impact of climate spending.
The 2025 budget set aside $427,900 for climate work, just 0.14 per cent of total county spending. The expanded team, currently just Manager of Climate Change Initiatives Linda Swanston and Sustainability Planning Program Coordinator Megan Myles, would handle more projects across the plan’s seven themes, from energy and waste to farming and building upgrades.
At the same meeting, council moved on two other pocketbook issues. It agreed to update decades-old nuisance wildlife by-laws so that trappers who control beavers and coyotes are paid rates matching neighbouring Bruce County. Right now, Grey County pays $50 per coyote or wolf and $25 per beaver. Bruce County pays $100 and $50, respectively. Draft by-laws will come back to a future meeting for final approval.
Council also ordered staff to apply for the new Canada-Ontario Development Charge Reduction Program before the June 19 deadline. If accepted, the program would send Ottawa and Queen’s Park infrastructure dollars to the county in exchange for lowering development charges on new housing by at least 30 per cent, a move that could make it cheaper to build homes in Grey County communities.
The full details of the climate plan’s price tag will land in front of councillors as formal 2027 budget talks begin later this year.
