Whereas small, rural communities in British Columbia are surrounded by lands within Regional Districts governed by the Provincial Government that collect revenue from industry for resource extraction from the lands; And whereas the communities adjoining these lands provide services including parks, recreation and roads for the companies and employees and gain no apportionment of the revenue collected for providing these services: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM lobby the Province of British Columbia to consider revenue sharing of royalties and taxes with municipalities that provide services to those industries benefitting from the services of the adjoining municipalities.
Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing The financial viability of local governments is of great importance to the Provincial Government, especially the viability of rural and remote communities. To achieve this, the Province provides local governments with broad revenue tools, including: property value tax, parcel tax, user-fees, Development Cost Charges, agreements, and others. Additionally, through the pooled and Triple-A borrowing authority of the Municipal Finance Authority of British Columbia, even the smallest municipalities have access to inexpensive long-term borrowing. Local governments also have broad authority to accumulate surplus and statutory reserves for future expenses. As of 2018, local governments in British Columbia had aggregate net financial assets of 8 billion. Those assets are further complemented by provincial and federal grants for planning, services, and infrastructure. In particular, the Province provides over 50 million annually to smaller local governments across BC through the Small Communities Grants. As well, a portion of the recent Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program specifically earmarked 95 million to small, rural and remote communities through the Rural and Northern Communities Program. This program provides a different funding formal where small communities can receive up to 90 or 100 funding of eligible costs for an approved project. The Province also continues to work with the Resource Benefits Alliance given the impact that major industrial development can have on the economic development in the region and support provincial policy programs which are designed to support the long-term viability of small, rural and remote local governments.