Whereas in May 2016, the Halifax Regional Municipality approved a three-year extension of the Solar City program which provides the opportunity for property owners to save money and reduce their environmental impact by offering property owners a municipal service to procure and install three solar energy technology options for solar photovoltaic, solar hot air and solar hot water; And whereas the Halifax Regional Municipality is recovering 100 per cent of the program costs through a local improvement charge, as authorized by provincial legislation; And whereas municipal local improvement charges in British Columbia cannot currently include the provision of cost recovery for municipal services on private property: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request the Province of British Columbia to approve enabling legislation to allow the cost recovery of municipally-financed green energy technologies on private properties through municipal local improvement charges.
Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development The Provincial Government applauds innovative programs to promote a green economy. Under existing legislation, municipalities may provide some form of financial agreement or assistance to individual residents to subsidize a portion of the acquisition of solar panels. However, the assistance or agreement would be a standard commercial contract or grant between the municipality and the individual property owner, and would not be done through a local service with a tax levy on the individual property purchasing a solar panel. As well, the contract or grant cannot be used to provide assistance to business. Local services and accompanying public borrowing and tax levies are reserved for financing the costs of public infrastructure that are owned and controlled by the municipality. Local Services are not the appropriate vehicle to finance private acquisitions that are owned by individual residents such as solar panels or energy efficient devices.