WHEREAS the authority of municipal governments to apportion local property tax burden within their communities among local assessment classes is an important and successful feature of local governance in British Columbia; AND WHEREAS the claim by some major industrial taxpayers of a problem of competitiveness with municipal property taxes is as yet unproven as municipal property tax forms a very small portion of the cost of production for major industries, and there is no evidence that shifting property taxes away from the owners of major industry onto owners of other property classes will either cause a failing industry to survive or a successful industry to fail: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM request the provincial government to fund a rigorous independent analysis to determine the statistical causality between municipal property taxation and industrial activity; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the UBCM strongly endorse the current authority of municipal governments to set the relative municipal property tax burden among the assessment classes within their respective communities and oppose initiatives to remove this important feature of municipal governance in British Columbia.
MINISTRY OF COMMUNITY RURAL DEVELOPMENT The Province of British Columbia is concerned with a number of different features of the property tax system including stability, fairness, and efficiency. An efficient tax system is one that reduces negative distortions that punish specific taxpayers. The BC Government maintains the authority to intercede in the municipal property tax system to reduce such distortions through the regulatory authority under section 199 of the Community Charter. There is growing concern that the tax rates in the Major Industry class are significantly higher than the Residential or Business class in a number of BC municipalities. This issue has been analytically and quantitatively studied over the last several years by industry, academia, individual local governments, the Union of British Columbia Municipalities UBCM, and the Province. Two major provincial committees the Competition Council and the Premiers Task Force on Community Opportunities examined the issue of industrial taxation from a number of different perspectives. The Province of British Columbia supports the autonomy of both municipalities and regional districts to determine the amount of property tax they are to collect based on the needs of their citizens. The Province is committed to working with local governments and the industrial community in British Columbia to ensure that a structure is established that is positive for all parties.