Whereas the Municipal and Regional District Tax MRDT provides a critical source of funding for destination marketing organizations DMOs, tourism development, visitor services, and economic development initiatives across British Columbia; and communities hosting major industrial, infrastructure, energy, forestry, mining, and construction projects continue to incur costs associated with tourism promotion, destination development, workforce attraction, and economic diversification; And whereas under the current MRDT framework, accommodations rented for periods exceeding 27 consecutive days are generally exempt from MRDT collection, resulting in reduced revenues despite continued occupancy of local accommodation facilities by project workers, and causing DMOs, including Tourism Prince George and others across British Columbia, to experience significant revenue losses during periods of high industrial activity, limiting their ability to market destinations, support tourism operators, and diversify local economies; Therefore be it resolved that the City of Prince George urges the Province of British Columbia to review and amend the Municipal and Regional District Tax MRDT regulations to ensure that destination marketing organizations DMOs and local governments do not experience reductions in MRDT funding when accommodation providers are occupied for extended periods by construction, industrial, or other project-related workers; And be it further resolved that the Province of British Columbia, in consultation with local governments, DMOs, accommodation providers, and industry stakeholders, consider options including the continuation of MRDT collection on long-term commercial hotel stays, a compensation mechanism, or other measures that protect destination marketing funding while maintaining fairness for accommodation operators and project proponents, and develop a sustainable funding model that recognizes the economic realities of resource and infrastructure development on communities.
