Trail and District Chamber of Commerce urges municipalities to support small businesses through spending control, lower business tax.

As B.C. celebrates Small Business Week, the Trail and District Chamber of Commerce is working with the BC Chamber of Commerce and challenging municipalities to support their local small businesses through spending discipline, low business tax multipliers, and business-friendly policies.

“What this sector really needs is some tangible relief from its tax and administrative burden,” said Norm Casler, Executive Director of the Trail and District Chamber of Commerce.  “As B.C. celebrates Small Business Week, Chambers across British Columbia are urging municipalities to show their support for small businesses in ways that count: through spending restraint, low business taxes and by adopting policies that encourage economic growth.”

Due to different tax rates, B.C.’s businesses pay multiple times the property tax bill that a resident would on an equivalent size of property. The amount by which a resident’s tax rate is multiplied to generate the business tax rate is called a business tax multiplier.

While some B.C. municipalities have made strides in recent years on lowering these multipliers, B.C.’s worst-offending communities are still exacting four or five times more tax from small businesses than they would from residents on an equal-sized property.

“Many businesses don’t use anywhere near this proportion of municipal services,” Casler said. “These high tax burdens on small businesses aren’t just unfair – they’re unsustainable.”

The Chamber’s call for property tax relief for small business and for business-friendly policies aligns with a recent UBCM report’s call for municipalities to partner with local businesses to foster economic development.

“Municipalities themselves have a real opportunity to boost their local economies by simply creating a competitive tax environment where businesses can thrive,” Casler said. “Additionally, municipalities can support local businesses, and save them valuable time, by cleaning up messy policies and processes to create a straightforward, business-friendly regulatory environment.”

“It is encouraging to see that our local municipalities are working hard to create an environment that supports and attracts businesses,” Casler said. “Given how much we all stand to gain from economic growth, we hope to see more local governments stepping up and taking action to help our small businesses thrive.”

The Trail and District Chamber of Commerce represents more than 250 members and businesses of every size and sector; the Trail and District Chamber of Commerce is an advocate and trusted resource.

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Businesses in the Lower Columbia Region are planning on investing $60 Million over the next three years.

In partnership with the Rural Development Institute, KAST, The Skills Centre and Columbia Basin Trust, the Lower Columbia Initiatives Corporation interviewed 147 businesses over the past 6 months and is now hosting three forums to share the findings with everyone in the region.

The Business Retention and Expansion survey provides valuable information to understand our business sectors, current business development climate, anticipated future growth, barriers to growth, and a basis for future economic development strategies.

The three forums will be held:

Tuesday May 28th: Trail: Muriel Griffiths Room (Selkirk College Trail Campus): 7:00-8:30 pm

Wednesday May 29th: Rossland: Prestige Mountain Resort: 7:00-8:30 pm

Thursday May 30th: Fruitvale: Memorial Hall Club Room: 7:00-8:30 pm

For the full report please visit www.lcic.ca

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