Whereas sadly thousands of British Columbians are homeless, sleeping in shelters, tents, and encampments, while many jurisdictions in Canada and down the West Coast have successfully triaged their homelessness crises with temporary, tiny shelter-type villages, as a transition to more permanent housing; And whereas BC Assessment classifies property according to its use, and local governments apply a mill rate to the respective classification to determine taxes, while owners of vacant land are incentivized to reduce their property taxes by changing temporary use and assessment, for example by adding a community garden to be re-classified as a Class 8 Recreational; And whereas properties assessed as Class 3 Supportive Housing integrate long-term housing units with on-site supports for persons who were previously homeless or persons who are at risk of homelessness are subject to special valuation rules by the provincial government that reduce the assessed value of the property to a nominal amount, and have received funding from the government or a regional health board: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request the BC government to work with local governments to develop and fund an incentive for more readily and rapidly repurposing vacant land as temporary Class 3 Supportive Housing, to support the creation of emergency or ad-hoc housing or shelter with on site supports as a short-term use, and including tiny homes, navigation centres, portables, andor modular housing.
Ministry of Finance Government is committed to improving housing affordability in our province, and the 30-point housing plan, Homes for BC, lays out the many actions being taken to meet that commitment over 10 years, starting in 2018. Budget 2022 adds 166 million in funding to Homes for BC to help achieve the goal of delivering 114,000 affordable homes in our province by 2028, bringing annual housing investments to more than 1.2 billion by fiscal year FY 202425. This funding includes 100 million in FY202223 for non-profit housing providers to accelerate the construction of mixed-income housing through the Community Housing Fund. It also adds additional staffing resources for the HousingHub at BC Housing to keep up with growing demand for the 2 billion in low-cost financing announced in Budget 2021. The Class 3 Supportive Housing initiative and assessment policy is an important part of the Provinces approach to assisting persons in need of physical and mental health support. Class 3 designation is available for properties that are publicly owned or owned by a non-profit and must include related care or counseling services. Any new applications for designation are considered in the annual review and regulation update process, in the context of these required criteria. This link provides additional information on the Supportive Housing program: https:www2.gov.bc.cagovcontenthousing-tenancyaffordable-and-social-hous… Homes for BC URL: https:www.bcbudget.gov.bc.ca2018homesbc2018homesforbc.pdf