A change to Saanich’s tax policy will mean new development will pay for associated costs with projects.
Council this week approved a change to its tax policy that will allocate the revenue generated by new construction and renovation to fund any associated costs — resources and staff — required to support the new development.
Any remaining funds will then be used to reduce property taxes across all classes.
Coun. Susan Brice, chair of the finance committee, said the new tax revenue is the money generated by new construction such as building and renovation.
“The essence of this is that as a result of new construction, the new taxation is applied against costs to the municipality for further growth,” she said.
Coun. Karen Harper said the move underlines that in Saanich, growth pays for growth.
“So when we have increased taxes due to the fact that we have an increased amount of housing, that will help pay for any staffing needs we need to continue to deal with that issue,” she said.
Council also voted to maintain the status quo on the split between business and residential tax rates.
Brice said while businesses are paying a higher rate, it hasn’t been raised as an issue by business organizations.
She said surveys of businesses in the district have suggested there’s no need to change at this point.
“I would hope that if commercial businesses feel they’re paying too much they would come to us and tell us so we could lower their taxes and increase more business in Saanich to have a more prosperous local economy,” said Coun. Nathalie Chambers.
Mayor Dean Murdock noted there’s always an opportunity to try to lighten the load and ensure that people are receiving good value for money, but at this point the district is “striking a reasonable balance. There may be opportunity for improvement down the road.”
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