WHEREAS the provincial government receives a substantial amount of revenue from liquor taxes and recently increased tax on liquor to capture as much as 81 million in extra revenue; AND WHEREAS local governments with populations over 5,000 are mandated to provide and fund policing services on a cost share basis with the federal government, and municipal policing costs are rapidly increasing due to liquor related offences requiring increased enforcement: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Province provide a portion of liquor tax to local governments to defray the cost of policing or, alternatively, grant local governments taxation authority to levy a tax on all liquor sold within local government jurisdiction in order to defray the cost of policing.
MINISTRY OF FINANCE Provincial revenue from taxes on liquor help to fund essential government services such as health care and education. Government recognizes, however, that the misuse of liquor affects local government policing costs. Government has therefore transferred 100 of traffic fine revenue for community policing, crime prevention and other initiatives to help make communities safer. This represents over 31 million in traffic fine revenue for 70 B.C. municipalities this year, bringing total annual funding to over 41 million in fiscal 200405, a 300 per cent increase over the previous year.