Whereas Group 4 independent schools bring hundreds of student residents to our communities that consume municipal services such as transit, library, bylaw enforcement, policing, and road and trail maintenance; And whereas the Community Charter exempts these Group 4 Independent Schools from property taxation which the municipality normally utilizes to fund these services, thereby placing an extra burden on existing taxpayers; Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request that the Province of BC either remove the tax exemption for Group 4 Independent Schools from Provincial legislation or provide compensatory grants to municipalities that are affected.
Ministry of Finance The Community Charter section 2201l provides a statutory exemption from property taxation for an independent school. The provision was amended by the legislature in 2015 to expand the statutory exemption to include land reasonably necessary for the purposes of the school. Such land had previously been subject to a permissive exemption. The question of including or excluding group 4 independent schools was considered by the legislature and the decision was to include all independent schools. Class 4 independent schools were included in the statutory exemption before the 2015 changes expanded the geographic base of the exemption. The government does not plan to review the legislation.