Prince George, B.C. - Although there has been discussion about the possible extension of a revitalization tax exemption, Prince George Mayor Dan Rogers says the existing revitalization tax exemption (which allows a tax break for up to ten years) can be sharpened.

“We could offer a break for wood innovation which would tie in with the wood first policy we have developed.”

Mayor Rogers was on the Meisner program on CFIS FM this morning, talking about the report which concluded there was no business case for extending the tax break opportunity to 20, 30 or even 40 years.

Under the current tax break, there have been few takers. In the 5 years since it was established tospark development and upgrades in the downtown, only 8 projects, valued at $13.5 million have taken advantage of the opportunity presented by the break. The break only sparked one new development, the Gaming Centre, ($10 million dollars) and the balance was made up of renovations.

In talking about an extended exemption Mayor Rogers says the big picture has to be examined “The problem is if you give the tax break to one sector, then there is the possibility the tax burden will be shifted to others and that just wouldn’t be fair.” Mayor Rogers says the unintended consequences will have to be measured. “I think we need to look at the current zoning bylaws. We are doing that   through the OCP (official community plan) so we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot.” 

There are some who would argue previous Councils did indeed shoot themselves in the foot with the approval of the Westgate Shopping Centre which moved the commercial core out of the bowl. That development required new infrastructure which the City is now responsible for maintaining. Mayor Rogers was a member of that Council and admits he voted in favour of the development however, he voted against the moving of the Casino to the corner of 16 and 97 because he believed entertainment belonged downtown.  “You can’t go back and change things, but we can learn from our past. In my opinion we need to have a hard look at our zoning and OCP and how it relates to downtown so that intentionally or not, we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot.”

The current Council has made improvement of downtown a priority, but Mayor Rogers says that doesn’t mean the rest of the City is being ignored “I  also represent all those other businesses that are not in the downtown core, they might be in the Carter light industrial area, that might be in the Hart and in College Heights. I think you’ve got to balance   where that development occurs in our community to be fair to all the residents and be sensitive to that. You manage that by what you allow and what could occur downtown in square footage and commercial development so at least you have a strong core.”

The Revitalization Tax Exemption report is now open for public comment. Written submissions will be accepted until 5 p.m. July 12^th. Submissions can be either mailed to City Hall, or emailed to:  RTEsubmissions@city.pg.bc.ca