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WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 2013
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Taxes hit industry hardest BY THERESA MCMANUS REPORTER tmcmanus@royalcityrecord.com
New Westminster’s commercial property taxes are slightly higher than the regional average, but city hall believes that other factors compensate for the higher tax rate. City council received an overview of the property tax burden and tax rates for non-residential property classes at its July 8 meeting. Although the city’s business class tax rate ranks fifth out of 17 in the region and is slightly higher than the regional average, a staff report said that lower rents and lower property values help “offset” the higher tax rate. “Typically rents tend to be lower in New West than in Burnaby or East Vancouver,” said Randy Grant, the city’s manager of collection services. “Having no bridges to cross was another advantage noted.” New Westminster is also attractive to businesses, said Grant, because of its proximity to Vancouver International Airport and the Surrey business community. “Those were some of the significant advantages that New Westminster had to offer,” he said of factors that compensate for higher property taxes. According to the staff report, B.C. Assessment has nine classes of property: Class 1 – residential; Class 2 – utilities; Class 3 – supportive housing; Class 4 – major industry; Class 5 – light industry; Class 6 – business and other; Class 7 – managed forest (none in New Westminster); Class 8 – recreation/non-profit (places of worship etc.); and Class 9 – farm (one in New Westminster). The city currently gets about 60 per cent of its taxes from the residential property class and about 40 per cent from other classes. The report states that business and industry representatives have complained since the early 1990s that they pay a disproportionate share of the property tax burden and have been advocating that the distribution of the tax burden be based on the “consumption” of tax-supported city services by each class. While no municipality has
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Energy saver: New Westminster homeowner Nicole Prior’s family is one of the first to participate in the Energy Save New West program that will offer energy assessments to homes. In addition to being an environmentally sound initiative, she believes the program provides a good opportunity to teach son Max about the environment.
Energy Save New West launches BY THERESA MCMANUS REPORTER tmcmanus@royalcityrecord.com
The City of New Westminster is offering 100 free home-energy assessments to local residents on a first-come, first-serve basis. In partnership with B.C. Hydro and FortisBC, the city is launching the Energy Save New West program this month. The program is designed to improve the energy efficiency of low-rise residential homes in New Westminster and make it easier for homeowners to access incentives available through LiveSmart B.C., as well as specific heating, lighting and appliance rebates provided by Fortis B.C. and B.C. Hydro. “Energy Save New West is a key step in achieving the energy conserva-
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tion and greenhouse gas reduction goals in the city’s Community Energy and Emissions Plan,” Mayor Wayne Wright said in a press release. “Our goal is to have 200 homeowners registered in the program at the end of 12 months, with 100 homes having completed the initial energy assessment and proceeding with energy upgrades and improvements to their homes.” According to the city, the process begins with an initial energy assessment of a home. Energy Save will provide a certified energy advisor (City Green Solutions) to all registered homeowners, and the energy advisor will schedule a convenient time to conduct the assessment according to provincial and federal guidelines. “Energy Save New West covers the
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cost of a detailed energy assessment conducted by a certified energy advisor, which would normally be paid for by the homeowner,” said Norm Connolly, the city’s community energy manager. “The program is designed to make it easy for homeowners to get a comprehensive energy picture of their home, as well as cost-effective strategies to improve energy efficiency.” New Westminster resident Nicole Prior is happy to see this initiative underway in New Westminster. When she purchased her 1930 Craftsman-style bungalow in 2011, the previous owner had already made some energy improvements such as a hot water on-demand system, external heat pump, and energy efficient windows.
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