Tax Shifting comes to Williams Lake for 2012 Tax Year

On Tuesday - WL Council will meet in Committee of the Whole to discuss three items of which two may be of interest to residents - see Agenda here

1) Tax Shifting Options of 1% Heavy Industry to Other Tax Classes - read item here

Editor's Note - Please note that while tax shifting is a relatively new topic for Williams Lake, it has been historically done in Quesnel in the last few years, given their property taxation issues and a commitment by Quesnel Council to "rebalance" the various tax classes to a reasonable set of ratios over a period of time

Option 1 – 1% Tax Shift from Heavy Industry to all other Tax Classes

Tax Class	2012 Tax Rate per $100,000	2012 Tax Ratio (amount times Residential Rate)
1 – Residential	$546.90	1.00
2 – Utilities	$4,000.00	7.51
4 – Major Industry	$8,969.16	16.40
5 – Light Industry	$4,703.34	8.60
6 – Business/Other	$1,175.83	2.15
8 – Recreation/Non-Profit	$546.90	1.00
9 – Farm	$1,220.13	2.23

Option 2 – 1% Tax Shift from Heavy Industry to Business 

Tax Class	2012 Tax Rate per $100,000	2012 Tax Ratio (amount times Residential Rate)
1 – Residential	$542.30	1.00
2 – Utilities	$4,000.00	7.51
4 – Major Industry	$8,969.64	16.54
5 – Light Industry	$4,446.86	8.20
6 – Business/Other	$1,203.90	2.22
8 – Recreation/Non-Profit	$546.90	1.00
9 – Farm	$1,199.02	2.21

Option 3 – 1% Tax Shift from Heavy Industry to Business & Light Industry (50/50)

Tax Class	2012 Tax Rate per $100,000	2012 Tax Ratio (amount times Residential Rate)
1 – Residential	$542.30	1.00
2 – Utilities	$4,000.00	7.51
4 – Major Industry	$8,974.60	16.54
5 – Light Industry	$4,829.14	8.90
6 – Business/Other	$1,182.86	2.18
8 – Recreation/Non-Profit	$546.90	1.00
9 – Farm	$1,188.29	2.19

Option 4 – 1% Tax Shift from Heavy Industry to Light Industry

Tax Class	2012 Tax Rate per $100,000	2012 Tax Ratio (amount times Residential Rate)
1 – Residential	$542.00	1.00
2 – Utilities	$4,000.00	7.51
4 – Major Industry	$8,959.26	16.53
5 – Light Industry	$5,317.02	9.81
6 – Business/Other	$1,161.506	2.14
8 – Recreation/Non-Profit	$546.90	1.00
9 – Farm	$1,769.08	3.26

2) Revisions to City Communications Policy #199

Revisions include:

• Updating the position responsible for communications (Communications Coordinator rather than Manager of Council and Community Relations);
• Incorporating the Social Media Policy in to the Communications Policy;
• Adds a video content section which includes procedures for producing and archiving video content for the City, as video content production is expected to begin in late 2011 or early 2012;
• Clarifies under Procedures that the Chief Administrative Officer determines which matters are in the public interest;
• Clarifies that the Mayor or the CAO are the principal spokespersons for the City;
• Clarifies that the CAO is the principal spokesperson for administrative items; and the Mayor is the principal spokesperson for policy items;
• Added flexibility for Mayor and CAO to designate alternate spokespeople (among Council and staff, respectively);
• Updates and expands the Election Period Communication section with stronger language to avoid providing election advantages to incumbent Council members;
• Allows for published or digital communications tools beyond newsletters;
• Adds an Emergency Communications section to define the role of the Information Officer, selection of a spokesperson, and guidelines for public emergency communications

Read full Agenda Item here