Whereas rural area property taxes are collected from the Provinces Surveyor of taxes on behalf of Regional Districts; And whereas the Province of British Columbia charges a 5.25 percent administration fee on the taxes collected which the property owner pays as part of their property taxes, and this increases the tax burden on electoral area residence: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request that the Province of British Columbia reduce the provincial collection fee on rural area property taxes, so that the tax burden on the rural property owners may be reduced.
Ministry of Finance The Provinces Surveyor of Taxes is the tax collector outside of municipal boundaries. The Surveyor of Taxes issues 401,000 annual tax notices each year which include the local service taxes collected on behalf of the regional districts. The Surveyor of Taxes pays the regional district its annual property taxes, as billed, before August 1 of the taxation year, regardless of whether the taxes have been collected. This removes tax collection risk from the regional district. As well, any reductions to the amount of taxes initially billed because of the property assessment appeal processes are a loss to the Province, not to the regional district. This guarantees that the regional district receives it budgeted amount of tax revenue each year. The percentage charged for the fee is subject to occasional review. It has not changed from its initial value of 5.25 percent.