Courtesy of the City of Williams Lake:
City Council gave the first three readings to the 2012 Tax Rate Bylaw at its regular meeting April 17. The 2012 Tax Rate Bylaw reflects the 3% increase in taxation revenue that was identified in the 2012 budget and specifies how the municipality will distribute taxation amongst the various classes of properties in the City.
Continued declines in Major Industry assessed property values over the years has resulted in Williams Lake having one of the highest Industrial tax rates in BC. This issue was identified by the Business Expansion and Attraction Strategy Task Force as a major impediment to attracting new industry and it was recommended to Council that efforts be made to reduce the Industrial tax rate over time to create a more competitive investment climate in the City.
The 2012 Tax Rate Bylaw shifts the percentage of tax collected from Major Industry from 23.4% of total taxation revenue to 22.4%.
The 1% difference was reallocated equally to Residential and Business property taxes.
As a result of the redistribution, the following are the 2011 to 2012 changes to tax rates (per $1,000 of assessed value) by class:
Residential $5.26 to $5.50
Utilities $40.00 to $40.00
Major Industry $88.24 to $89.37
Light Industry $34.71 to $43.39
Business $11.20 to $11.88
Under this Tax Rate Bylaw, a residential property assessed at $200,000 would see an increase of $48 in the municipal portion of property taxes in 2012, a business assessed at $200,000 would see an increase of $136, and major industrial property assessed at $1 million would see an increase of $1,130.
“Council had committed to addressing our major industry tax rates, which have consistently been among the highest in the province, to attract development and decrease our dependency on our major industrial properties,” says Williams Lake Mayor Kerry Cook. “This tax shift is a small but important step in that direction. The decision to raise or redistribute taxes are never easy, but
Council is committed to putting the City in a strong position going forward: reducing our dependency on major industry, setting money aside for future capital projects so that they can be done without adding to the debt, and adopting a long-term view of financial planning.”
The Five Year Financial Plan was adopted at the April 17 Council meeting and the Tax Rate Bylaw will be adopted at the next regular Council Meeting on May 8th
For more information, please contact:
Brian Carruthers - CAO
City of Williams Lake
Ph: 250-392-1763
E: bcarruthers@williamslake.ca
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