WHEREAS regional districts are not receiving benefits from the 55,000 kilometres of distribution lines and 17,533 kilometres of transmission lines in the rural areas of the province, while other forms of government are receiving a benefit; THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the UBCM urge the Minister of Finance to implement a fair method of compensation to regional districts in the province based on the strong belief that crown corporations, wherever possible, should compete on a level playing field.
MINISTRY OF FINANCE In November 2006 the Minister of Finance announced a new government policy with respect to payment of grants-in-lieu by Crown Corporations generally, and BC Hydro specifically. Under the new policy, BC Hydro pays grants in respect of its generating facilities comparable to the property taxes that would be paid on a large 400 megawatts private gas-fired generating plant. In its consideration of the grants-in-lieu policy, the government made the decision to create a more transparent policy rationale for calculating the grants for each generating facility in order to provide additional funds to communities which host and or are impacted by power generating facilities, and for adjusting these grants into the future. The government also made the decision to enhance payments already being made to regional districts, but not to provide additional grants based on other provincial facilities in the regional districts.