WHEREAS there is no legislative provision to allow municipalities to impose separate tax rates for each of land and improvements to encourage property owners to make significant improvements to their properties or to reduce the impact of sudden fluctuations in property values; AND WHEREAS the current legislative mechanisms such as the revitalization tax exemption or the assessment averaging provisions provided under the Community Charter and Assessment Averaging Phasing Regulation, B.C. Reg. 3702003, respectively, have not been proven to be useful tools for mitigating the impact of uneven assessment changes on taxation: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Province be lobbied to amend Section 197 of the Community Charter to allow municipalities to have the flexibility of levying separate tax rates for each of land and improvements for each property class.
Ministry of Community, Sport Cultural Development Although the variable tax rate system does not currently contain legislative authority to allow municipalities to set differing property tax rates for land and improvements, there are other mechanisms available through the Community Charter and Regulations. Section 216 of the Community Charter, Local Service Taxes, allows costs to be recovered through taxes imposed on land, on improvements, or on both. Municipalities can use local service taxes as part of their taxation structure to meet their specific community needs such as to encourage property owners to make significant improvements to their property, or reduce the impact of sudden fluctuations in property values. Revitalization Tax Exemption provisions were amended in 2007 to broaden their application. Only in the last few years have municipalities actually started to take advantage of this tool which can be used for a wide variety of purposes including providing tax relief for property owners who make significant improvements to their properties.