qathet Regional District’s board will consider a permissive tax exemption to Royal Canadian Legion Branch 232 on Texada Island for the 2024 tax year.
At the September 6 finance committee meeting, Electoral Area D director Sandy McCormick thanked staff for bringing the recommendation forward.
“There has been a long history with this group and this organization, so I’m very happy to see the recommendation,” said McCormick.
Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne said he has spoken about permissive tax exemptions at previous regional district meetings.
“I’ve always had a bit of an issue with how regional districts do permissive tax exemptions, because its unlike a municipality, where everyone pays,” said Gisborne. “With the regional district, it’s the rest of the services that are making up the difference. This one, I’m actually fine with supporting.
“One of the challenges with permissive tax exemptions is when we take a look at Myrtle Point Golf Club, you get issues then with the fire department, and who is benefitting, and it can muddy the waters. For this case, I would lean a little bit more towards supporting a general grant-in-aid but that’s not what we’re discussing today.”
Gisborne said when more tax exemption requests come forward, he wants to make sure the board is looking at it through the appropriate lenses, and which services are being affected. He said the Texada Island Legion is a great organization.
According to a staff report, if approved, the Texada Legion’s land and buildings would be exempt from all property taxes levied by the regional district, Powell River Regional Hospital District, Van Anda Improvement District, as well as school, rural tax, BC Assessment, Municipal Finance Authority and the police tax. The tax exemption is estimated at $1,173 for the 2024 tax year.
These taxes would shift from the Legion to other taxpayers in the region. In previous years the board has approved permissive tax exemptions for the Texada Legion.
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