Elected officials raised a tax in Comox Valley to buy land for supportive housing and emergency shelter projects.
An additional $650,000 will be taxed from the public compared to last year under a program called “Function 450,” which taxes property owners and uses the money to buy land for emergency shelters and supportive housing. It is planned to remain at that level through 2028 after the CVRD board approved the district’s five-year financial plan in March.
“The last two years, we’ve had a minimum requisition of about $50,000,” said CVRD community development and resilience manager Lisa Kilpatrick when explaining the hike to the district board on Dec. 5. “There is an ability to requisition approximately $700,000 in 2024 for this service.”
In March, the board gave final approval for the five-year plan. It finalized the hike to Function 450, which is now scheduled to collect its maximum allowable tax dollars from the public each year until 2029.
The increase means a property valued at $800,000 is now expected to jump from paying $1.28 each year to paying roughly $20, a district report estimated. Owners pay approximately two dollars for every $100,000 that their property is worth.
All properties in the Comox Valley will be affected by the tax increase — Courtenay, Comox, Cumberland, and Electoral Areas A, B and C. The tax is scheduled to continue at this rate until 2029, however it can be reconsidered every year.
READ ALSO: Tax hikes in the pipeline for households across Comox Valley
READ ALSO: New property tax coming to Royston and Union Bay as part of Sewer Extension South Project
READ ALSO: Citizens asked to renovate homes as part of GHG plan in Comox Valley
This year’s increase is separate from Function 451, a similar CVRD program that collects from the same property owner roughly $8 each year to support non-profits addressing homelessness in the Comox Valley. Comox, Denman and Hornby islands are not taxed under the separate Function 451.
Both functions are now collecting the maximum amount from property owners that’s allowable under their respective bylaws. In order to increase the rate, the district would have to change the bylaws, Bylaw No. 389 and Bylaw 52.
This year’s tax hike to Function 450 is part of a CVRD plan to stockpile money that can be used for upcoming supportive housing and emergency shelter projects, Kilpatrick told the board in December. By collecting the maximum tax now, the CVRD will have a reserve that funds projects such as the Regional Growth Strategy action plan around housing, and the community plan around homelessness in the future, she said.
RELATED: Housing shortage predicted in Comox Valley in coming years
After the approval from elected officials in March, the CVRD is now scheduled to collect roughly fourteen-times more tax dollars from the public under Function 450, district planners estimated in a slideshow. The CVRD’s projections show it collecting from property owners roughly $3.5 million for supportive housing and emergency shelter land by 2029 rather than $250,000 had no increase been adopted.
The CVRD board comprises elected officials from the three areas and Cumberland, Courtenay and Comox, including directors Doug Hillian, Will Cole-Hamilton, Vickey Brown, Jonathan Kerr, Wendy Morin, Ken Grant, Melanie McCollum, Edwin Grieve, Daniel Arbour and Richard Hardy. The board’s vote for the tax hikes was unanimous.
NEWSLETTER: Sign up for our email newsletter, it’s free