Whereas the Province of British Columbia has announced the expansion of Provincial Sales Tax PST to include professional services such as engineering, accounting, legal, and consulting services that local governments are required to obtain to meet legislative obligations and deliver infrastructure and services; And whereas local governments cannot recover PST and will incur significant unbudgeted cost increases, particularly to smaller communities that rely more heavily on external professional services, resulting in increased property taxes and additional financial burden on local taxpayers: Therefore be it resolved that the UBCM request that the Province of British Columbia exempt local governments from Provincial Sales Tax on professional services required for local government operations, legislated requirements, and capital projects, or provide equivalent financial offsets to ensure these additional costs are not borne by local government taxpayers.
