Council Delays Dealing with Rental Unit Business License
Prince George, B.C.- Council for the City of Prince George has decided not to decide on the matter of rescinding the business license bylaw for residential rental units, at least not until June.
The question before Council was to rescind the bylaw which charged a business license fee for secondary suites, but instead, Council voted to postpone dealing with that motion until staff return with a report that will offer some alternatives.
If Council doesn’t like the alternatives, it can go back to the question of repealing the bylaw.
Collection of the business license fee has been suspended until the issue has been resolved. If, at the end of the day the bylaw is rescinded, then the City will have to write refund cheques to 1,187 property owners to pay back the $184 thousand dollars that have been collected so far.
It was Councillor Frank Everitt who first brought the matter to Council’s attention, calling for the bylaw to be rescinded because it was causing unintended hardship for many sectors of the community.
He did not want the item postponed, and urged his fellow Councilors to settle the matter now. He said Council would look “goofy” by putting this off and waiting for another report. Mayor Green countered that by saying “We are already there (looking goofy)” because Council has been “a little bit all over the map” on the issue.
The bylaw was a product of the Core Review, and the fee structure was said to be a step towards crime reduction.
Councillor Cameron Stolz says Council needs to “look at the greater good” and repealing the bylaw would “Take away a tool that would allow the City to close down businesses such as the Homeland Inn, to ensure rental units have suitable living conditions.
Councillor Murry Krause argues the City has always had the option for fire inspections and building code inspections. He worries the business license fee will be passed along to tenants, “Some tenants are just hanging on by the finger nails, and having just $14 dollars a month added on to their rent is too much of a hardship.”
While he supported the postponement he advised “If this is about a lost opportunity for revenue, that doesn’t fly with me. It has to be about doing something that will make the community better.”
Council will hear the report from staff on June 9th.
Comments
Is there an election coming or something?
Nobody wants to make a tough call and do what needs to be done.
As for the slumlords out there. Good job pressuring the city into a corner, this will be very interesting as it has Stolz/queen green vs. The rest.
Queen green and Stolz the doltz get squirrelly when cornered and always have something goofy to say.
As for the rest of the councillors, the one who makes the biggest production out of this will probably end up running for mayor. And hopefully wins :)
Ps.
It is delaying.
Not delaing.
Or was the word dealing rather than dealaing?
I’m getting confused. Sorry.
Homeland inn ? if they are talking about the place on Victoria ,it’s still open and rented to tree-planters by the look of it.
nothing against tree-planters I’m just pointing out it’s still open.
isn’t that homeland inn a motel
âSome tenants are just hanging on by the finger nails, and having just $14 dollars a month added on to their rent is too much of a hardship.â
Why don’t they have this concern when raising taxes and utilities every year? Do they not realize that those fees are also passed on to tenants?
Time is money, why can’t our city make up its mind and get on with it, add up all the time and energy spent on this I bet you its half of what they brought in. Good gosh, this is another reason why we need to clean house .
We don’t have city council, we have the cast from Disneyland running our city.
News2me, bang on with them raising city taxes and utilities.
How about a bit of fiscal responsibility from the top down. Don’t find ways to spend money and find ways to tax the people. Find ways of saving money.
Sell off some of the properties, and get it into the hands of private developers, start collecting taxes.
This city is on the borderline of fraud. There is no bylaw at this time is there? They have no right to “hold” the peoples money. The city is talking about lower fees and would have to give rebate cheques out anyways.
I heard Koehler on the news this morning saying he was worried that council would be the laughing stock. A bit too lat for that isn’t it?
End of the day it was a money grab with little thought to the over all effects. So Everitt is correct pay up and move on.
The Core Review supporters and all those that think a business license for people with a suite in their basement is a solution to their financial woes are sorely mistaken.
Legalize a permitted secondary suite? So, just what does this mean? The guide sent to me states: Is a secondary suite permitted within two-unit Housing (Duplex), accessory building or in Multiple Residential Housing? The answer is No – Secondary suites are only permitted within Single Detached Housing which the Zoning bylaw defines as: “a building containing only 1 dwelling exclusively used for occupancy by 1 household”.
Legalizing an existing Secondary Suite?
#1 Confirm Zoning
#2 Review the BC Building Code requirements for secondary suites.
#3 Pre-Application: Submit a completed Pre-application questionnaire along with the $75 application fee to book an inspection.
BTW – Per BC Building Code – “Please have a professional designer complete the Building Code Analysis to ensure that the secondary suite complies with the BC Building Code regulations.”
So, practically and realistically, how many suites will measure up? How many home owners renting a suite in their basement for $400 per month are going to hire a professional designer to ensure compliance? How many are going to pay an additional $75 fee to the city for an inspection? How many home owners are going to spend additional money to upgrade their “suites” to bring them up to “Code”?
Like someone already said, our taxes have increased, our utilities have increased, they will want us to install water meters and now they want to charge us for the water that runs off our property on to the streets.
All I can say is, good luck with this money grab. I am very disappointed in everyone who thinks this is a good way to fleece the taxpayers.
I will be re-directing my votes to those who can see the difference between cutting costs and increasing taxes.
When will governments ever learn that the more laws they pass to regulate the economy, the more they drive the economy underground?
Probably never.
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