Keep making noise, mayor urges

BY BARB AGUIAR

Neels of Grant Thornton and Kevin Edgecombe of the Urban Development Institute, who were all against the tax.

A representative from the provincial NDP government had been invited, but declined to attend.

Findlater and Zaffino met with Premier John Horgan, Monday hoping to get West Kelowna exempted from the tax, challenging the assertion the municipality has a low vacancy rate and high house prices.

The Goat’s Peak development that was scheduled to go ahead with some 1,000 homes in the next 10 years has been shelved because of the speculation tax, and there is concern development in the municipality will move to nearby areas without the tax.

Money from development cost charges and the increased tax base created by new development is being used to upgrade West Kelowna’s infrastructure.

The money would have to be made up through taxes or reduction of services, said Zaf no.

“You hear the patting on the back from the province that only one per cent of British Columbians are going to be paying this tax, well it’s 100 per cent of West Kelowna residents that are going to be paying this tax,” he said.

Neels provided some numbers on the proposed tax as it stands now.

In 2018, a B.C. resident would pay $500 in tax on a $500,000 secondary residence, while a Canadian resident outside B.C. and a foreign owner would pay $2,500.

In 2019, a Canadian owner outside B.C. would pay $5,000 in speculation tax, while the foreign owner’s tax on would increase to $10,000. That would be an annual cost.

Neels added there are exemptions if people rent out their secondary house.

Edgecombe said the uncertainty around the tax is causing a tremendous number of cancelled projects. “I’ve personally heard of 65 single-family residential cancellations,” he said.

Stewart said he has received over 900 letters and emails from people affected by the tax.

Michelle Bromberg, who runs a property management company whose clients are mostly Albertans with properties in the Okanagan, was one of the people who spoke out against the tax. “I’ve got cleaners wondering where the work is, I’ve got landscapers that I’m having to tell we’re having to slash the budgets in half for our clients. I’ve got tradespeople coming out of the woodwork who I haven’t heard from in years asking if I have any work,” she said, noting her Alberta clients are either selling their homes or tightening their belts because of the proposed speculation tax.

Anna Maria Simonelli lives in Rome, Italy, but has vacationed in West Kelowna since 1974 after buying her parents’ home.

She spends four months of the year in West Kelowna and contributes to the economy spending money on things including xing the house and car ownership.

“When you live in a place for 40 years, that isn’t speculation,” she said. “They’re forcing me to sell and I don’t want to sell because I like this country.”

Elaine Bunge, while not in favour of the tax, was happy the Goat’s Peak project has been shelved.

“We don’t need any more people there,” she said.

One man stood up in favour of the tax.