Mayors of B.C. communities affected by the NDP government鈥檚 pending 鈥渟peculation tax鈥� on second homes got the support of delegates of their counterparts province-wide Wednesday, and urged Premier John Horgan to make affordable housing measures a local decision.

Mayors of Langford, 琉璃神社, West 琉璃神社, Radium Hot Springs and Parksville held a news conference outside the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Whistler to drive home the point that they are seeing unintended and negative consequences from the tax, due to take effect next year.

Langford Mayor Stew Young says 鈥測ou can鈥檛 tax your way out of a housing crisis鈥�

鈥� Tom Fletcher (@tomfletcherbc)

West 琉璃神社 Mayor Doug Findlater said the prospect of the tax has caused 鈥渁 bit of a recession鈥� in his community. Single-family home starts are down 40 per cent since the tax was announced in February, and multi-family development proposals are off 45 per cent since the tax targeted vacant properties, he said.

Radium Hot Springs Mayor Clara Reinhardt said the announcement had an immediate effect on her resort community near the Alberta border, with housing developments cancelled.

Finance Minister Carole James confirmed after the vote that the speculation tax is going ahead in its amended form.

Finance Minister says she鈥檚 heard @ubcm2018 but the speculation tax is going ahead

鈥� Tom Fletcher (@tomfletcherbc)

James rolled back the extent of the tax in March after protests from vacation homeowners, exempting the Gulf Islands, Parksville, Qualicum Beach, the Juan de Fuca region in Premier John Horgan鈥檚 constituency and rural areas of the Fraser Valley and Central Okanagan.

It applies to Metro Vancouver, Greater Victoria and the municipalities of Nanaimo, Lantzville, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission, 琉璃神社 and West 琉璃神社. It is to take effect based on 2018 assessed property values, at 0.5 per cent for B.C. residents and two per cent for foreign owners and 鈥渟atellite families鈥� who don鈥檛 pay income tax in B.C.

B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson noted that the resolution to dump the tax had overwhelming support from local politicians at the UBCM convention. 琉璃神社 Mayor Colin Basran endorsed Wilkinson鈥檚 argument that the tax doesn鈥檛 target speculation.

In May, Wilkinson proposed his own version of the tax, targeting capital gains of people who flip condominiums for a quick profit.

tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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