Some potential tax relief on the way from Province as Municipal Affairs Minister introduces Property Tax Amendment legislation

Municipal Affairs Nathan Cullen introduce some new legislation amendments
on Monday designed to reduce the impact of high property valuations 
(image from BC Leg Video)

Some amendments to the Community Charter could bring some new tools to municipal government when it comes to the impact of high or unexpected property value increases, withe the NDP government introducing the Municipal Affairs Statutes (Property Taxation ) Amendment Act as part of Monday's afternoon session at the Legislature.

The change to existing process was outlined by Municipal Affairs Minister Nathan Cullen who introduced the amendments to the Legislature yesterday.

"The primary purpose of this bill is to provide a new tool to municipalities to provide tax relief to local businesses and non-profits that have been affected by high or unexpected increases to assessed values due to the development potential of the property that they occupy. 

As we all know, real estate's markets in many B.C. communities have led to significant increases in the assessed values of properties. These increases can be even higher when a property undergoes a zoning change to increase density or a property is expected to be developed in the short or medium term. 

The amendments to the Community Charter and the Vancouver Charter would enable municipalities, at their discretion, to tax the land value of certain light industrial and commercial properties at a reduced tax rate. 

These amendments are the outcomes of the property assessment strategic review and in consultation with a broad range of municipal business and non-profits stakeholders. I would like to thank them for their advocacy and their insights into these tax reforms. 

They are intended to replace the interim business property tax relief legislation and provide a new tool for communities to decide at the local level which businesses, organizations, non-profits need property tax relief. 

I would like to thank the Minister of Finance and her excellent team for their leadership in guiding this legislation to this point. These amendments have the potential to provide significant property tax relief to businesses and non-profits and allow them to continue to occupy the property while a transition is in the new development process."

The proposed changes will now make for some of the debate in the days ahead in the legislature as it moves towards its next reading in the Chamber.

Mr. Cullen's presentation of the amendments can be reviewed here from the minutes of the session, as well as through the Legislature Video Archive starting at the 1:50 PM mark.

In an information release this morning from the Prince Rupert and District Chamber of Commerce, the response to the proposed amendments was provided as relayed by the BC Chamber of Commerce.

The main thrust of note being as to how the devil is in the details with the Chamber awaiting more details on the proposed changes.

For more items of note for the northwest coming out of the British Columbia Legislature see our Archive  page here.