Whereas local governments and their representative organizations, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities FCM and Union of BC Municipalities UBCM, have noted for over a decade that the current municipal funding model and overreliance on property taxes are neither sustainable nor resilient; And whereas the Province and UBCM have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Local Government Financial Resiliency, establishing a joint provincial-UBCM Local Government Financial Review Working Group, focused on addressing the 20 recommendations within the 2021 UBCM Ensuring Local Government Financial Resiliency Report: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request that the joint provincial-UBCM Local Government Financial Review Working Group explore developing a multiyear funding framework for local governments similar to Quebecs 2020-2024 Partnership: Building Even Stronger Municipalities and Regions framework whereby the Province would transfer an amount corresponding to the growth in revenues it derives from one point of the provincial sales tax PST to local governments as a sustainable, predictable, and reliable source of funding.
