Prince George, B.C. – Fifty-nine communities in B.C. will be splitting a provincial pie of approximately $17.1 million in compensation for municipal property taxes in 2014.

The provincial government provides grants-in-lieu of property taxes each November to reimburse municipalities for services that benefited government properties, such as municipally run sewers, roads and fire protection. The grants are payable on land owned by the provincial government such as courthouses, provincial government office buildings and warehouses.

Schools and hospitals are exempt from paying municipal property taxes and are not part of the grant-in-lieu calculation. Other provincial assets such as highways, forests, parks or land under the management of Crown corporations are also excluded from compensation under the Act. BC Emergency Health Services is responsible for grants-in-lieu payments for ambulance stations.

Municipalities and districts receiving grants-in-lieu include:

Burns Lake – $7,576.14 Fort St James – $39,678.68 Prince George – $2,178,533.96 Quesnel – $53,991.52 Smithers – $127,897.68 Terrace – $123,050.66 Vancouver – $2,533,268.91 Victoria – $2,863,336.35 Wells – $974.79 Williams Lake – $56,928.95