‘I have people crying’: Belcarra mayor says NDP gov’t unfairly treating cabin owners like speculators
Posted March 20, 2019 3:01 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
BELCARRA (NEWS 1130) – Stop treating us like “collateral damage.” The mayor of Belcarra had some angry words Wednesday, as he continues to demand exemptions for approximately 60 property owners in his community from B.C.’s speculation tax.
Neil Belenkie says a simple stroke of a pen is all it takes for B.C.’s finance minister to grant them the same break given to much wealthier property owners in Whistler.
“I have people crying across my desk from me because they’ve been putting away money every month to meet their property tax requirements and they never budgeted for a retroactively applied tax that would ever consider them speculators,” he said.
RELATED: BC finance minister says she’ll meet with Belcarra homeowners about speculation tax
“These people are second-generation who have inherited their cottages or they built them in the 1970s. They are the furthest thing from speculators. They are retirees on fixed incomes, and many of their cottages and cabins are unrentable … We have 300 total. Fifty-seven are water-access designated. About 45 of them are water-access only.”
Minister Carole James has not clarified if there’s any chance these owners — some of whom are retirees on fixed incomes — can be exempted this year.
On Tuesday, James told NEWS 1130 she is willing to meet with them before this summer.
“She’s using political jargon to make it appear that she’s willing to consider our request for an exemption this year,” he claims. “She has formally declined Belcarra’s request for exemption. She’s refused to review the materials, and she has repeatedly offered to meet with the rest of the mayors — and Belcarra — in the summer for consideration in the next year for the speculation tax application.”
Belenkie feels the NDP government has created a lot of division.
“People are so angry, they’re willing to have this collateral damage — that’s the NDP used for Belcarra … They are dividing the population of B.C. to accept the fact that there are unintended consequences in their desire to help fix a real rental problem.”
RELATED: Seniors with unrentable homes in Belcarra call for break from speculation tax
He says he agrees something needs to be done to address the shortage of rentals in B.C. — especially Metro Vancouver — and improve access to affordable housing.
“However, selectively applying this tax in places like Belcarra — where we have no rental or speculation problem — and ignoring places like Whistler that have identified a massive rental crisis happening, and then granting exemptions for Parksville because Andrew Weaver has his recreational house there … The arbitrary application of the speculation tax to include Belcarra is infuriating.”
