The City of Williams Lake has set the goal of not being in the top five in the province when it comes to tax rates for major industry by 2021.
Councillor Jason Ryll made the recommendation Tuesday evening at a special meeting of council.
“Williams Lake has had a long history of having high industrial tax rates and I think that that’s something that we want to try to move away. The idea is to encourage development and so by having competitive tax rates that are going to give us the ability to go out and sell Williams Lake to investors around the world,” he says.
“Smaller communities traditionally tax heavy industry quite high. I can’t promise that that still wouldn’t continue, but if we can have competitive tax rates for a smaller community we’re only to do industry a favour by having those competitive tax rates.”
Ryll’s recommendation was made after Council gave adoption to the 2018 Municipal Tax Rate Bylaw that will see a 1.9% tax increase across the board for residential, business, recreation, and also industry both major and light.
“It’s a lower incremental tax rate than anything I would dare say any other community in the province,” says Ryll.
“One point nine percent tax rate across all mill rates is fantastic when you look at the global climate.”