Mayor says B.C. taxation committee making progress
By Castlegar Source
Issues like community risk assessment and dispute resolution took centre stage May 3 and 4, at the second meeting of the province’s Industrial Taxation Steering Committee in Victoria.
Castlegar mayor Lawrence Chernoff, who serves on the committee, said the meetings are moving forward quickly as a result of tight timelines.
“It’s really a broad stroke of the brush at this point – we’re examining everything from municipal risk analysis to assessment and collection changes,” he said. “At the next meeting, in June, we’ll be looking at how we can narrow this down and develop a formula to present to the UBCM (Union of B.C. Municipalities) and the provincial government this fall.
“We’ve got everyone involved: municipalities; industry and the provincial government are all at the table, and I think we’re making some really good progress.”
He said there’s also an advisory committee bringing suggestions forward to the steering committee, and the real challenge is to keep things simple while still addressing the complex and varied needs of industries and communities throughout the province.
As an illustration, he used Castlegar’s recent conflict with its pulp mill, Celgar, explaining that when the mill refused to pay its taxes last year, it left the city in a difficult cash-flow position, but the two parties were able to come to a conclusion that was acceptable to both (the resolution was announced in concert with the city’s 2010 budget and five-year financial plan).
“That may not always be the case, they may not always be able to reach a compromise,” he said. “We need to create a framework for preventing that sort of conflict, and methods of dealing with difficulties when they do arise.”
Finally, he said his primary role on the community was to represent rural and small-town B.C., to ensure the interests of communities like Castlegar have a voice at the table and a say in any final decisions.
The next meeting is slated for June.
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