The Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) recently shared what they and their members expect from the leaders and parties running in the BC general election.
According to UBCM, their main issue with the BC government is that local governments are having to provide more and more public services, which are supposed to be under the Province’s jurisdiction, without any growth in revenue.
Municipalities are having to take on increased spending to address the needs of their citizens, filling gaps left behind by the Province.
To help mitigate municipal spending on Provincial responsibilities, the UBCM are looking for the BC government to step up when it comes to housing, infrastructure, community safety and climate action.
“Local governments have limited options to raise revenue to pay for new pressures and responsibilities,” UBCM said in a media release.
They added that there is an over-reliance on property taxation that can’t accommodate for service gaps left by the Province.
Specifically, their areas of concern are homelessness, infrastructure and the climate crisis.
“These cost pressures are pushing local governments to raise taxes, rely on one-time grants, or divert funds from core local responsibilities,” UBCM wrote.
To help with local government’s costs, UBCM wants all political parties in the upcoming election to agree to the following:
- An annual transfer of a percentage of the provincial Property Transfer Tax to support local efforts in subsidizing affordable housing supply and homelessness responses
- An annual allocation-based transfer equivalent to the doubling of Canada Community-Building Fund funding to support local capital and operating infrastructure priorities
- Transferring annually a percentage of the growth in the provincial carbon tax to support local climate action projects and emergency management planning and responses
The UBCM say they are calling for whoever wins the election to address these pressures through new provincial funding transfers to local governments.
