B.C.’s ports will be even more attractive to Canadian and international investors as the Province moves to make the existing cap on municipal port property tax rates permanent for designated ports.
B.C. continues to build a tax structure that attracts investment. This commitment will encourage significant additional infrastructure expansion, allowing us to get Canadian goods to market – one of the key goals of ‘Canada Starts Here: The BC Jobs Plan’.
The caps were introduced in 2004, on a temporary basis, through the Ports Property Tax Act (PPTA). Since then, the private sector has announced, initiated, or completed port investment projects worth more than $1 billion – creating hundreds of new jobs, and significantly improving the competitive position of B.C.’s ports.
Permanently capping municipal property tax rates under the PPTA will provide greater long-term cost certainty for investors, and an incentive for further investment. The BC Wharf Operators Association has estimated that more than $2 billion in future private sector investments in B.C. ports could be stimulated by this proposed amendment.
Additional private sector investment in B.C. port terminals will support economic growth, create full-time, high-paying jobs, and give the province’s ports the capacity needed to carry Canadian products and resources to the expanding Asian markets.
B.C. will continue to compensate local governments for the resulting impact. Municipal compensation payments are indexed to the rate of inflation. The changes are subject to approval of the legislature.
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Dredging Today Staff, February 28, 2012; Image: portmetrovancouver