WHEREAS the resources of rural British Columbia are extracted to the benefit of the whole; AND WHEREAS the benefit to the whole may not accrue in proper proportion to the rural community in which the resource extraction occurs: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities petition the Province of British Columbia to assign one percent of provincial revenue derived from rental fees for leases and licences of occupation to the appropriate local government to compensate, in part, for the lack of revenue from resource extraction.
Ministry of Community Services At the September 2004 UBCM Convention, the Premier announced the creation of the Premiers Task Force on Community Opportunities the Task Force. While the Task Force is not reviewing directly the issue of resource revenue sharing, one component of the mandate of the Task Force is to consider more generally opportunities for revenue sharing between the Province and communities. The Task Force is working with government to identify opportunities and parameters for the use of revenue sharing as an incentive for actions and decisions by local government that contribute to the provincial economy. The continuing mandate of the Task Force was confirmed at the 2005 UBCM Convention. In addition, the Province has demonstrated its willingness to address unique situations with unique solutions, such as the recently renewed Memorandum of Understanding between the Province and the Peace River Regional District. Under that MOU, the Province shares revenue derived from oil and gas with local governments to compensate for the structural and geographic difficulties in assessing and collecting property tax from the oil and gas industry in the area.