Whereas some rural areas of BC have experienced an increase in population and growth in business activity over the past fifteen years which has created business clusters based on tourism and the service industry and supported by community planning and or zoning; And whereas electoral areas in the province have few tools to support business clusters in the rural areas to create an identity and present themselves in an integrated way: Therefore be it resolved that the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development consider creating a mechanism, similar to that available under the Community Charter, for regional districts to empower business improvement districts in the electoral areas.
Ministry of Municipal Affairs Housing Unlike municipalities, which are their own local taxing jurisdictions, regional districts rely on other bodies to tax on their behalf. In the rural areas of regional districts, the taxing jurisdiction is the Provincial Surveyor of Taxes, which is responsible for nearly 400,000 rural folios across the British Columbia. A business improvement area BIA is a non-standardized tax scheme, with taxes limited to the Business Class 6 and Light Industry Class 5 property classes. Such non-standardized tax schemes create considerable administrative difficulties for a central authority like the Surveyor of Taxes. At this time, the Province is not considering any legislative change granting regional districts the authority to establish BIAs. However, there are alternate approaches available to regional districts. A regional district board, in cooperation with local business interests, could draw a service area boundary that primarily encompasses a business andor industrial area within an electoral area. The purpose of this service could approximate the range of allowable purposes set out under a traditional BIA, including: business encouragement schemes, area-wide beautification or improvement schemes, conserving heritage properties, and conducting business studies. Further, the service could be operated directly by the regional district or contracted through another public authority, person, or organization. Despite the prohibition on assistance to business, a regional district could potentially provide such assistance in relation to partnering agreement with a business for the provision of a business improvement service.