CG mayor gets unanimous support on taxation issue at UBCM
By Kyra Hoggan
Castlegar mayor Lawrence Chernoff found a sympathetic audience when he presented at the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) convention yesterday, with a unanimous resolution passed today to forward Chernoff’s concerns to the provincial government.
“When I told (our) story, I talked about the model,” he said, explaining he’s referring to the model used by the provincial government to dictate municipal taxation of major industry.
“The model’s broken and we need to fix it, and develop a new approach to industrial taxation that works for modern times.”
He said he avoided pointing fingers, looking instead to future solutions, and was gratified by the positive response.
The day after Chernoff’s presentation, today, UBCM delegates voted unanimously to support a resolution addressing the issue and determining, ‘that the UBCM work with the provincial government on resolving industrial taxation issues within a framework that acknowledges …the fundamental importance of local government control of property taxation for local purposes …”
Chernoff said he couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome.
“We want to work with the province, municipalities, corporations and other stakeholders to find a resolution,” he said. “We received a lot of support. We weren’t there to bash anyone.
“We need a solution, and we need everyone’s help to find one …we just can’t do it by ourselves.”
The UBCM conference continues until Oct. 2.
Comments