Provincial Port Tax Process said to be set for review by Ministry of Finance

There may be some light at the end
of the Port Taxation Caps Tunnel

Provincial taxation and its caps on industrial, mostly port related property, has made for one of the longest running irritants between the City of Prince Rupert and the Provincial Government.

However, some good news may be on the horizon for Mayor Lee Brain and Prince Rupert City Council with word that the Province's Ministry of Finance is about to review the legislation that makes for the Ports Competitiveness Initiative.

The taxation caps were introduced in 2004 on a temporary basis, with the measure made a permanent fixture in 2012, however since that time, it has served to create some challenges for communities like Prince Rupert and North Vancouver, both of which have significant infrastructure on their waterfronts, which is protected under the initiative.

The Port Cap issue has become an annual feature of the City of Prince Rupert's Financial Budget roll out, frequently noted as a subject that successive civic administrations have quarrelled with the province over since it was introduced.

The Province of British Columbia is said to be considering a review
of the controversial Port Tax cap initiative, the provincial tax instrument
covers a significant amount of local waterfront in the Price Rupert area
(Photo of Fairview Terminal from Port of PR)

Back in 2012, Don Krusel, the then President and CEO of Port of Prince Rupert outlined how the port cap tax allowed for the Port to develop and made investment in Prince Rupert even more attractive.

"The Port of Prince Rupert is on the verge of historic growth. We are seizing the opportunities of Asia-Pacific trade and working with investors who are eager to share the success of B.C.'s northern trade corridor. 

A permanent cap on municipal property tax makes investment here even more attractive. It means adding tax stability to the long list of Prince Rupert's advantages. The inevitable result will be sustainable growth, more jobs, and long-term benefits for our communities."-- Don Krusel in February of 2012 on the province's port cap initiative.

Whether a change to the structure of the port cap initiative will change the attractiveness of the Port as a place to invest,  would no doubt be something that the current CEO and President Shaun Stevenson may want to share with the review once it is launched.

Word of the plans for a Provincial review were first noted by the North Vancouver newspaper North Shore News, which featured this story on May 31st.

The work of reporter Brent Richter, provides some background as to how the Ministry of Finance has alerted the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and Vancouver area municipalities, that the initiative will be up for the review.

In the North Vancouver newspaper report, Bowinn Ma, the MLA for Vancouver-Lonsdale  observed that the stakeholders have until June 14th to advise the province if they wish to be part of the upcoming review.

In her comments to the North Vancouver news service, the MLA observed how the goal of the province "is to make sure that the initiative is still meeting the needs of British Columbians"

Ms. Ma also observed how the District of North Vancouver and City of Prince Rupert have been affected owing to the large percentage of industrial land that is covered by the initiative.

While the topic of the ever present Port tax caps did make it into a newsletter delivered with Prince Rupert property taxes this year, so far, Mayor Lee Brain has not alerted this community as to the apparent plans of the Finance Ministry, or what involvement, if any, that the City may take on as part of the review.

Something that is somewhat surprising considering the progress that the review would seem to indicate for the issue, one which has been one of the signature items of his time in office since the election of 2014.

Likewise, North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice hasn't yet spoken to the topic, or shared word of the pending review in the same fashion as her fellow New Democrat from North Vancouver has done.

You can find more on the impact of the port caps on Prince Rupert from our Budget overview of this year available here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.