Fort St. John City Council has rejected the Reace River Regional District’s (PRRD) request to exempt more residential properties, from paying taxes towards the operation of the North Peace Leisure Pool.
The PRRD had requested to add more properties in Area B to the tax exemption list because they were too far away to use the pool on a regular basis.
Council in a unanimous 7-0 vote rejected the idea. Council then instructed city staff to send a letter to the PRRD informing them of the decision.
Officials with the City of Fort St. John said the assessed value of property on the PRRD tax exemption list has now grown to over $440 million across 848 properties.
The city said in the last 2 years, 62 properties have been added to the tax-exempt list. That has resulted in approximately $140 million less in assessed property value, meaning less taxes are being paid to the City of Fort St. John.
City officials say the loss in tax revenue will get passed on to other taxpayers.