Whereas land used for the purposes of extracting, storage of products manufacturing or transporting of goods are categorized as Class 5 Light Industry in the BC Assessment Act Prescribed Classes of Property Regulations BC Reg. 43881 with the exception of lands used or held for the purposes of, or for purposes ancillary to, the business of transportation by railway; And whereas ancillary rail operations such as transloading facilities are a heavy burden on local government infrastructure through trucking activity and movement of product and require a higher level of government support including fire services: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM urge the provincial government to review the assessment classifications in the BC Assessment Act Prescribed Classes of Property Regulations BC Reg. 43881 and that business for the purposes ancillary to railway operations including transloading facilities be reclassified as Class 5 Light Industry in order to create fair taxation from railway operations and further that, Section 5e be repealed from the Act.
Ministry of Finance The Province is aware of the issue that local governments have raised regarding property assessment and tax fairness for rail yards. Rail yard properties are Class 6 Business or class 5 Light Industry depending on use. Marshalling yards where train cars are shunted, loaded, unloaded, and parked are Class 6. Warehouses associated with these marshalling yards, used for short-term storage and trans-shipment of cargo are Class 5. These classifications are consistent with the Prescribed Classes of Property regulation. The Province undertook significant work in 199596 to prescribe the classification of the configuration of rail yards, and does not intend to consider reclassification of railway properties at this time. The Province will continue to monitor rail operations to ensure policies are consistent with industry practices.