Whereas the Ports Property Tax Act establishes a provincially prescribed property taxation framework for designated port facilities that constrains the ability of host municipalities to set property taxes in a manner aligned with local service responsibilities, and has resulted in ongoing inequities between port properties and other properties within the industrial tax class, as well as inequities for host municipalities; And whereas ten municipalities in British Columbia host designated port facilities and are required to deliver a wide range of municipal services necessary to support port operations and address community impacts, including transportation infrastructure, emergency response, policing, fire protection, land use planning, bylaw enforcement, and environmental management: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM urge the Province of British Columbia, in collaboration with the ten municipalities impacted by the Ports Property Tax Act, to repeal or amend the Act to establish a clear, transparent, and modernized provincial framework that ensures port and terminal properties contribute a fair and equitable share toward the municipal services and infrastructure required to support their operations and community impacts, while recognizing the importance of international trade to the Canadian economy and ensuring that competitiveness measures are supported by all orders of government.
