The City of Fort St. John has reversed its decision on the Peace River Regional District’s request to exempt more residential properties from paying taxes toward the North Peace Leisure Pool.
This comes after city council’s initial unanimous 7-0 vote rejecting the PRRD’s request.
City officials explained the bylaw giving the PRRD the ability to tax properties in Area B for the Leisure Pool was misunderstood by council members.
Officials said council members mistakenly believed that 848 new properties were being added to the exemption list.
That would’ve resulted in a loss of tax revenue, which would’ve shifted the burden onto other taxpayers.
The total assessed value of properties on the exemption list has grown to over $440 million.
According to city officials, these properties had already been approved in the past. The PRRD’s request was only seeking to add a small number of new ones.
At the November 10 meeting, council approved the addition of 20 to 30 properties to the exemption list.
These properties are located in areas too far away from the Leisure Pool.
City officials noted that properties can be added or removed from the list depending on their tax classification. For example, if farmland (Class 9) is reclassified as residential (Class 1), it becomes eligible to be added to the list.
Officials added that the amount of tax revenue attached to these properties is fairly insignificant.