Property worth billions of dollars across British Columbia is exempted from property taxes under unquestioned and antiquated rules, according to a recent CTV News investigation.
Last week, journalist Penny Daflos reported on the complexity and extent of BC's property tax exemption systems.
Her reporting exposes how communities across the Lower Mainland (excluding the City of Vancouver) lost out on $19 million in revenue last year. In her second story, she notes that private schools in Vancouver sit on over $1 billion worth of property.
And one Vancouver organization that receives a property tax exemption was described as a cult by the Supreme Court of Canada.
We told CTV News that the province should revoke the automatic exemption for places of worship, allowing local communities to decide whether these organizations provide a sufficient public benefit to warrant this tax transfer.
“How many volunteers do you have? Who do you serve? What benefits do you give to the community?” said executive director, Ian Bushfield.
“We don’t deny a lot of churches do a lot of good that’s necessary in the community, but is that promotion of faith itself charitable? We don’t think so.”
Read the full story on CTV News:
- Millions unpaid: The BC organizations and companies getting big property tax breaks
- Calls grow to re-examine BC's automatic property tax exemptions
We've also launched a tool for you to email your city council to ask them to adopt a public benefits test for property tax exemptions.
Our supporters have already reached out to dozens of municipalities across BC with these letters. And they're hearing back from their councilors.
In the meantime, our team is working hard. We're working to update our 2021 report on property tax exemptions. We're drafting a model bylaw for municipalities to adopt. We're working to put pressure on the province to end the automatic exemptions. And we're providing support to those who've started a conversation with their local government.
We need your support.