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Fair Tax Coalition successful in shifting tax burden

Thanks to the support and backing of all 17 Vancouver BIAs and their 43,000 members, the Vancouver Fair Tax Coalition has achieved an important victory at the City’s budget meeting in April.

City Council voted to lower the tax burden on business by one per cent in 2006 – more than what’s been done in the last five years. This means the business sector will save $4.7 million in property taxes this year.

For the first time, Council also voted to develop a long-term policy to achieve a “fair tax” for commercial taxpayers. The coalition will play an integral part in this process.

Although the Coalition had argued for more, council’s tax shift and commitment to achieve a “fair tax” in the long-term is a win. We believe that if we did not have a presence, we would not have received any shift at all.

In addition, city staff will now be required to incorporate economic impact statements in all major reports to council.

Most importantly, the coalition’s campaign has brought the property tax issue to the forefront both in the media and at city hall. Vancouver city council knows that this is a problem and that economic sustainability is vital for the future of our city. To that end, a meeting between City staff, politicians and coalition representatives will take place at the end of June to further the dialogue on this issue.

This was a successful first round. The Coalition remains committed to continuing our battle for fair taxes, and have already begun planning our next campaign.

As members of the coalition, the Marpole BIA sincerely thanks coalition organizers for their hard work, and our members for all your support. We worked together to raise awareness of the issue, get our messages out, and engage businesses and residents across the city.