Whereas the Agricultural Land Reserve ALR plays a critical role in protecting and promoting food security for all British Columbians; And whereas distances between agricultural parcels makes the cost of maintaining infrastructure to those properties disproportionately expensive and cannot be recovered from farm-class property taxes; And whereas as a result, the cost of servicing farmland for the benefit of all British Columbians falls unfairly on residential taxpayers within agricultural communities and limits the ability of the local governments of those communities to adequately serve their residents: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM work with the government of British Columbia to develop a reliable and consistent revenue source for local governments to adequately service their Agricultural Land Reserve lands.
Ministry of Agriculture and Food Given the current financial situation resulting, in no small part, from the recent trade instability with the United States of America, provincial budgets are constrained. At this time, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food is not considering the development of a new funding program for local governments to service Agricultural Land Reserve lands. However, there are numerous existing grant and transfer programs available to local governments through the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, such as the Growing Communities Fund and Local Government Infrastructure Grants. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food also currently provides funding for water infrastructure to local governments through the Agricultural Water Program.