Proposed changes to development charges mean the city of Ottawa could stand to generate an extra $62 million for public transit.

The Ontario government introduced legislation Thursday to change the formulas municipalities use to charge developers.

When developers build, they must pay the city to help install new infrastructure — such as roads, sewers and public transit — to support the development.

The existing formula for transit is based on the average cost of expanding bus service over the past 10 years.

Ottawa-Centre MPP Yasir Naqvi said his Liberal government wants to change the formula to represent what it will cost to build transit in the future.

"Municipalities like Ottawa, as they're building LRT, can collect the appropriate amount of development charges from transit-induced development that is going to take place along that corridor," he said.

According to Naqvi, that could mean an extra $62 million for Ottawa.

But the executive director of the Greater Ottawa Home Builders' Association, John Herbert, said development charges already increased by 31 per cent last year.

"We would have some serious concerns about that, because we're facing a pretty serious affordability problem now," Herbert said.

Naqvi said the changes would help increase the quality of life for people living around developments.

"Better public transit allows for better communities and better opportunities for developers as well to sell their condos or homes that they are building," he said.

A working group will study the proposed changes and report back to government by the end of the year.

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