REGIONAL DISTRICT PROPERTY TAX RATIOS (2006)

Several businesses within regional districts are being overtaxed for regional district services. The provincial government’s Community Charter requires municipalities to collect taxes on behalf of the regional districts within each of their own boundaries.

The Charter also requires municipalities to keep regional district property tax rates equal to the municipality’s own tax rates. For some businesses, it means a substantial amount of taxes towards the regional district services. For instance, businesses in the Capital Regional District’s North Saanich pay 7.5 times more than residential properties of equal value. In Victoria, where the bulk of the Capital Regional District’s business is found, business pays 3.3 times more than residential. Businesses that are already receiving the brunt of the levy for municipal property taxes are hurt further by higher than normal regional district taxes.

In comparison, Alberta counties set their own tax rates – they are not legislated to pass off the chore to municipalities. Counties can set tax rates at whatever rate they choose. The three classes of property that is taxes are: farmland, residential, and non-residential, as opposed to BC’s nine distinct property classes: residential, utilities, major industry, light industry, business, managed forest land, recreational property/non-profit organization, farm, and split classification.

South of BC’s regional districts, in Washington counties, business and residential properties share the same county tax rate. In these counties, property taxes are evenly based on assessment and market value.

The BC government collects electoral areas taxes, and bases those property tax rates on provincial multiples, whereby the business to residential tax ratio is 2.45:1. The average ratio currently in BC is 3.8:1, including 5.9:1 in Vancouver, 4.2:1 in Burnaby, 2.9:1 in Prince Rupert, 5.5:1 in Castlegar, 3.0:1 in Harrison Hot Springs, and 3.6:1 in Revelstoke.

THE CHAMBER RECOMMENDS

That the Provincial Government require all municipalities to follow provincial multiples when collecting regional district taxes from each property class, capping business-to-residential tax ratios for regional district services to a maximum of 2.45:1.