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Industrial Strategy

Industrial Property Taxes

The Issue
  • Some industrial property owners/operators have suggested that Richmond's industrial property taxes are high.
  • Property taxes do not appear to be a significant factor in whether or not industry stays or comes to Richmond, but the subject still merits some investigation.
The Findings
Richmond's 1998 actual industrial property tax rates compares favourably with all other communities in the GVRD. Finance and Corporate Services staff compiled the attached table which shows that:
  • For major industrial use (i.e., heavy industry), only Abbotsford, Langley, Surrey and West Vancouver rates are lower than Richmond.
  • For light industrial, only Abbotsford, Surrey and West Vancouver rates are lower than Richmond.
Conclusion
  • Finance and Corporate Services staff do not believe that there is any need to adjust the City's industrial property tax rates, given the City's already comparatively favourable rates.
  • However, staff is prepared to review any anomalies in the industrial tax structure and to bring forward any necessary recommendations for ameliorating these anomalies.
1998 Municipal Tax Rates
Actual Rates
Per $1,000 Assessment (1)		 Rate Comparison with Richmond
Per $1,000 Assessment (2)
Municipality Major Industrial Light Industrial Business Major Industrial Light Industrial Business
Abbotsford 19.153 11.733 10.956 (0.0307) (0.1093) 0.2476
Burnaby 42.132 13.54 12.663 1.1322 0.0279 0.4419
Coquitlam 38.975 18.558 16.14 0.9724 0.4088 0.8379
Delta 20.619 13.848 11.507 0.0435 0.0512 0.3103
Langley 12.997 13.627 11.627 (0.3423) 0.0345 0.3240
New Westminster 28.962 20.512 17.052 0.4657 0.5571 0.9417
North Vancouver 35.237 19.751 9.521 0.7832 0.4994 0.0841
North Vancouver 39.113 22.001 10.386 0.9794 0.6702 0.1826
Pitt Meadows 25.597 19.734 11.944 0.2954 0.4981 0.3601
Port Coquitlam N/A 19.474 13.395 N/A 0.4783 0.5253
Port Moody 35.004 21.895 11.854 0.7715 0.6621 0.3498
Richmond 19.76 13.173 8.782 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
Surrey 15.14 9.648 9.648 (0.2338) (0.2676) 0.0986
West Vancouver 10.03 10.06 6.418 (0.4924) (0.2386) (0.2692)
Vancouver 28.897 27.841 14.507 0.4624 1.1135 0.6519
             
Average Municipal Rates Across the Province 31.006 18.864 12.98 0.5691 0.4320 0.4780

Footnotes:

  1. Actual rates are stated as the number of tax dollars chargeable per $1,000 of assessed value.
  1. a) The rate comparison table shows the difference between another municipality's tax rate as compared with Richmond's rate, expressed as a ratio.
    b) A figure in brackets ( ) indicates that another municipality's tax rate is lower than Richmond's rate. To obtain a percentage comparison of a municipality's difference, multiply each ratio by (x100) e.g. .0307 x 100 = 3.07%

Source: UBCM Annual Survey