qathet Regional District (qRD) will consider a resolution for the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) to allow for permissive tax exemptions for non-profit society non-market housing projects.
At the May 22 qRD committee of the whole meeting, directors considered a resolution brought forward by Electoral Area D director and committee chair Sandy McCormick to make changes to the Local Government Act to expand regional district authority to grant permissive tax exemptions to not-for-profit or community housing.
Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne said he thought regional districts were allowed to give permissive tax exemptions to non-profit societies. He said, for example, Myrtle Point Golf Club has come before the regional board for permissive tax exemptions for its property tax.
“We’ve given them tax exemptions in the past,” said Gisborne.
Manager of financial services Linda Greenan said the regional district can give permissive tax exemptions, but the criteria is quite narrow in the Local Government Act. She said there is no provision for the regional district to give permissive tax exemptions for housing.
McCormick said the matter for the exemptions came up at a regional district planning committee meeting. She said there is a big difference between what regional districts and cities can do.
“We are not allowed to provide tax exemptions to non-profits for housing, whereas the city is allowed to do that,” said McCormick.
City of Powell River director Cindy Elliott said it would be a good idea for the regional district to be able to offer permissive tax exemptions for non-profits wanting to address housing.
Gisborne said some of the challenges for housing include water and sewer services. He said theoretically, there is a property in Lund, they become a non-profit, and they build a housing unit.
“If we give them a tax exemption, then that would mean the rest of the Lund users would be paying, rather than the entire region, which is different from a municipality, where it is the whole municipality that makes up the difference,” said Gisborne. “Are we allowed to give grants to non-profits for housing? Then, it would be the entire region that would be paying.”
Greenan said she would have to look into the particular grant that the regional district would try to give, but generally, the regional district does not give grants to alleviate taxes.
Manager of planning services Laura Roddan said the rural housing solutions report the regional board received a couple of months back was the trigger for the UBCM resolution. She said the report discussed how one of the tools for financing affordable housing that local governments have is permissive tax exemptions. She added that regional districts are exempt from that ability, and that was the trigger for the resolution.
The committee carried the recommendation to urge the province to amend the Local Government Act to allow permissive tax exemptions for not-for-profit societies for non-market housing in the regional district.
Join the Peak's email list for the top headlines right in your inbox Monday to Friday.
