STATEMENT – Halt to proposed pipeline valuation changes is good news

This is good news for municipalities and residential taxpayers, and it did not happen by accident. Local governments spoke up, regional districts pushed back, and Conservatives put real pressure on the NDP after exposing a proposed assessment change that would have blown holes in municipal budgets and shifted the burden onto homeowners and small businesses.

When BC Assessment first floated this change, it would have reduced pipeline assessments by up to 30 per cent and left communities in the Thompson Nicola Regional District scrambling to cover millions of dollars in lost revenue. Municipalities cannot run deficits. That money would have come straight from residential taxpayers and local businesses.

This episode raises serious questions about how this proposal ever made it as far as it did. Municipal leaders were not consulted, yet they were expected to absorb the consequences of a decision that would have delivered significant tax relief to billion-dollar pipeline companies while everyday British Columbians paid the price.

BC Assessment’s decision to step back from this plan is the right call, but it should also serve as a wake-up call. The NDP government needs to stop making backroom decisions that destabilize local finances and respect that property tax changes have real consequences for communities.

Conservatives will remain vigilant. Municipalities deserve transparency, predictability, and a government that does not quietly download costs onto homeowners and job creators.

PETER MILOBAR
MLA, Kamloops Centre