WHEREAS local governments are heavily reliant on property taxes and need to diversify their revenue sources; AND WHEREAS income tax sharing arrangements are common between senior and local government in other jurisdictions and British Columbia has the second lowest corporate income tax rate of all provinces and territories: Therefore be it resolved that the Government of British Columbia be urged to increase the corporate income tax rate by 1 on large corporations as defined by the Province and transfer any revenue from that tax increase to the local government level.
Ministry of Finance The government is committed to maintaining a competitive tax structure for British Columbia businesses. We also have a shared interest with the Union of BC Municipalities in growing the economy and improving the local government finance system. We have acted upon a number of recommendations in the Union of BC Municipalities Strong Fiscal Futures report, including; the launch of the New Building Canada program; renewing the federal Gas Tax Agreement; delivering 2.76 billion to BCs local governments over the next decade; accelerating applications under the Small Communities Fund part of New Building Canada Fund with the federal government; delivering 327 million over the next ten years for communities with populations under 100,000; ensuring greater public input over TransLink; and committing to continuation of Small Community Grants, which delivers an average of 55 million in unconditional grants each fiscal year. The government is not prepared to share provincial tax revenue at this time.