Windsor city council will be asked Monday to consider a freeze of development charges for up to five years.
Development charges are fees that cities collect from developers when they build new homes, businesses, or other buildings, and they help pay for infrastructure and services needed to support growth.
Those capital projects can include roads, sewers, fire services, libraries,community centres.
The current fees are set to expire in January 2026.
In its report to council, the city's development charges task force says uncertainty surrounding U.S. tariffs has led many developers to adopt a cautious "wait and see" approach, with some deciding to postpone projects.
Ward 1 councillor Fred Francis was in agreement with the task force recommendation.
"Because of the economic uncertainty we're seeing across the border it's probably the prudent thing to do right now just to hold development charges where they're at," Francis said.
Francis said, ultimately, development charges are passed onto home buyers and he didn't believe it to be the time to pass on any further costs to them.
He added the hope is to increase home sales while increasing tax base revenue.
"If you talk to builders, if you talk to realtors, they'll tell you that houses aren't being built like they used to be and they're certainly not selling like they used to be. So there seems to be a stall in the housing market and if we were to increase development charges I think that would just further add to that hardship for home builders, home buyers, and those looking to get into their homes for the first time," he said.
Francis said the development charges were raised significantly in 2021.
"I think we can afford to hold them status quo for the few years moving forward and hopefully within that time things change economically for everyone in the country really," Francis said.
If council approves the request, the development charge rates would be extended until January 2031, and a new bylaw would come before council for approval in spring 2027.