Whereas the widespread land speculation and soaring assessments on commercial and industrial properties continue to pose significant affordability challenges to independent small businesses who have limited ability to absorb extraordinary increases in rent and assume all property taxes passed on to them by their landlords, including taxes on the development potential; And whereas Vancouver City Council has formally submitted a request to the Province of BC in February 2018 to initiate a province-led intergovernmental workgroup to assess the options put forward by the City of Vancouver to address the impact of soaring property assessments on independent small business tenants in time for the 2019 tax year. The City of Vancouver has not formally heard back from the Province of BC todate: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request the Province of British Columbia to initiate a provinceled intergovernmental workgroup to address these assessment and taxation issues immediately to enable the long-term viability of independent small businesses in Metro Vancouver and the rest of British Columbia.
Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing In October 2018, Bill 42 Assessment Amendment Act 2018, was passed, enabling BC Assessment to value eligible Class 4 Major Industry properties e.g., lumber and pulp mills, mines, smelters, etc. based on current use rather than future Highest and Best Use HBU if there have been recent changes to the Official Community Plan. At the time of the Bills introduction, Minister Robinson committed to reviewing HBU valuation impacts on other property classes, including Class 2 Utilities, Class 5 Light Industry and Class 6 Business and Other, in addition to ongoing work on identifying property tax mitigation strategies for small businesses subject to triple net leases. The Province is seeking to understand what changes could be considered to provide a more fair and efficient assessment system for the affected classes in the context of real estate market pressures, affordability issues and Governments economic priorities. MAH staff has had initial discussionsconsultations with City of Vancouver and Metro Vancouver representatives. More information will be available on the consultation process in early 2019.