2007 BC Budget: Focus On Housing

By 250 News

                                                                           (file photo)

BC Finance Minister Carole Taylor has risen in the Legislature in Victoria to announce the Liberal’s focus for the coming year is the "challenge of housing."

Taylor says the 2007-08 budget is the 3rd out of 5 this government will table and she says it’s the 4th consecutive balanced budget.  The Minister says with one of the leading economies in the country and the unemployment rate at a 30-year low, keeping business and industry strong in all regions can’t be taken for granted, but this budget is dedicated to housing.

Taylor says the government is launching the most comprehensive and aggressive housing initiative this province has ever seen, including:

*  An additional $27 million over three years to increase the number of year-round shelter beds by almost 30 per cent and provide related support services;

*  $38 million in one-time funding to projects that provide housing and support for people who are homeless, or at risk of being homeless;

*  Raising the shelter rate by $50 a month for people on income assistance. B.C. now has the highest shelter assistance rates in Canada for employable singles, couples and single-parent families;

*  An additional $6 million over three years to strengthen support for transition houses for women and children fleeing domestic violence;

*  $45 million over four years to convert up to 750 social housing units to supportive housing, to make them more accessible for seniors and others with special housing needs;

*  Expanding the Rental Assistance Program by raising the income threshold to $28,000 a year. This means 5,800 additional working families – more than 20,000 in total – will be eligible to receive up to $563 a month to help with their housing costs;

*  The First Time Home Buyers’ Program is enhanced to exempt first-time buyers across B.C. from paying the Property Transfer Tax on homes valued up to $375,000. This will save first-time buyers up to $5,500;

*  Extending eligibility for the Home Owner Grant to lower-income seniors, regardless of their home’s assessed value; and

*  Introducing legislation to allow people to start deferring their property taxes at age 55 rather than age 60.

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