BC Conservatives call pipeline tax cut a ‘backroom deal’

Pipelines are poised to see property tax bills slashed, but a Kamloops MLA is moving to counter the rate cuts.

The change could impact municipal budgets across the province with the Thompson-Nicola Regional District estimating it could result in a $1 million hit to its budget and a 25 per cent tax increase for rural residents.

It comes after a long-delayed review by BC Assessment to re-calculate how it values pipelines across the province, but it was only recently and after the agency neared the end of its review that local governments learned of the plan.

“This is the latest example of NDP backroom deals and financial mismanagement landing squarely on the backs of ordinary British Columbians,” Kamloops-Centre Conservative MLA Peter Milobar said in a news release.

On Oct. 29, he proposed a bill that would allow local governments to counter the drop in assessed values for pipelines, like the recently expanded Trans Mountain Pipeline extending through the North Thompson Valley from Alberta to the coast.

“You have sawmills and pulp mills desperate to stay competitive, you have small businesses begging for property tax relief and other cost pressure relief, while a move like this by the government… they’re going to put a lot of pressure on municipalities to move the tax pressure on heavy industry or small businesses,” Milobar, who serves as the Conservative finance critic, told iNFOnews.ca.

He criticized the government for allowing BC Assessment to carry out the pipeline review for years without consulting cities and regional districts, while also questioning how the Crown agency managed to devalue pipelines as some have expanded.

“It also makes you scratch your head how (Trans Mountain) doubled the pipeline and it’s going down in value,” he said.

How it might affect cities like Kamloops isn’t clear yet, but neither is BC Assessment’s decision. The Finance Minister Brenda Bailey is expected to have the report on her desk in November, but the Thompson-Nicola Regional District has been told pipeline values are expected to drop 30%.

“I, too, feel concerned. I feel concerned anytime there’s a downloading of taxes onto small businesses and people, and I look forward to reviewing this report,” Bailey said in the legislature.

Before changes hit municipal budgets, Bailey will have to approve BC Assessment’s proposal. In the meantime, Milobar proposed an increase to the maximum tax rates allowed for utilities like pipelines, allowing local governments to make up the difference.

Unlike most other types of properties, the province limits the rate at which local governments can tax utilities, which includes pipelines, telecommunication lines and power lines.