Gibsons council had multiple questions regarding two housing facilities that have requested property tax exemptions, and are now directing staff to pose those questions to the Sunshine Coast Kiwanis Village and Sunshine Coast Affordable Housing Society.
Council questions include the selection criteria of residents, as well as about rental rates for the market value housing units that are part of their affordable housing projects and how those compare to the below-market rental rates.
Council also decided it will revisit permissive property tax exemptions for properties that have vacant or underutilized lots and/or buildings.
17 properties
At the July 18 committee of the whole meeting, staff presented 17 applications Gibsons received for permissive property tax exemptions. They include applications from the Sunshine Coast Affordable Housing Society (SCAHS) for its Franklin/Harmony Lane site and 571 Shaw Road; the Gibsons Public Market; two properties for the Gibsons Legion; two properties for the Gibsons Public Art Gallery; the Sunshine Coast Community Services Society’s thrift store; and Sunshine Coast Kiwanis Village. The list also includes six places of worship (and a vacant lot next to the Christ the King Community Church used for parking), and Good Samaritan Canada (Christenson Village) as a licensed care facility.
Some reasons properties can be considered for exemption from taxation include when they are for charitable, philanthropic or other not-for-profit purposes, buildings for public worship, and/or licensed community care facilities.
Staff noted most properties receive a 100 per cent exemption but some receive partial.
The Town of Gibsons portion of the permissive tax exemption for the 17 properties is calculated at $79,425, although staff noted the 2023 assessment for the Shaw Road property only included the land value.
Shaw Road was highlighted as a new application. The site broke ground in November 2022 for 40 rental units, which meet a combination of CMHC and BC Housing affordability requirements.
Council discussion
Coun. Stafford Lumley asked why the Franklin Road property is 100 per cent exempted, given that it includes market-value rentals, and stated he’d like to change that. Mayor Silas White commented that nonprofit housing facilities are usually encouraged by funders to have a mixture of rentals, and that the market rentals may still be extremely low.
Kim Darwin of the Affordable Housing Society attended the meeting virtually, and said that market rentals essentially subsidize the lower-priced rental units, help afford the mortgage and operating budget. She confirmed the units are well below market rates.
Council discussed the definition of affordable housing and decided to request information about the selection criteria and process.
Coun. David Croal commented on large underutilized properties that could potentially provide housing. Later in the discussion, Coun. Christi Thompson asked why vacant lots are given a 100 per cent exemption, to which staff said vacant lots can be seen as an extension and support to other properties’ activities (such as providing parking).
White added that it is “concerning when we see we’re giving tax exemptions to any vacant land when there isn’t a lot of vacant land in Gibsons anymore and we’re in a housing crisis.”
Since 2012, the Town of Gibsons has granted tax exemptions to properties for four-year terms, and the staff recommendation at the July 18 committee of the whole meeting was that council grant the exemptions for another four-year term of 2024 to 2027. Council moved to grant permissive property tax exemptions for the 2024 taxation year, a one-year term, in order to revisit tax exemptions for underutilized land and buildings during that time. At the July 25 council meeting, White said they will likely revisit those items in a workshop setting.
Coun. Andrea De Andrade commented at council that she wants to start the work as early as possible.
Council adopted those motions at the July 25 council meeting, and instructed staff to prepare the 2024 Permissive Property Tax Exemption Bylaw for first reading on Sept. 5. The bylaw must be adopted by Oct. 31 to be in effect by 2024.
